Chinook - A History and Dictionary PDF

A History and Dictionary
Of the Northwest Coast Trade Jargon
THE CENTURIES-OLD TRADE LANGUAGE

OF THE INDIANS OF THE PACIFIC.
A HISTORY OF ITS ORIGIN AND ITS

ADOPTION AND USE BY THE TRADERS,
TRAPPERS, PIONEERS AND EARLY SET-
TLERS OF THE NORTHWEST COAST.
By
EDWARD HARPER THOMAS
BINFORDS & MORT, Publishers

Portland . Oregon . 97242
Chinook: A History and Dictionary
COPYRIGHT UNDER INTERNATIONAL
PAN-AMERICAN COPYRIGHT CONVENTIONS
COPYRIGHT 1935, 1954, 1970 BY BINFORDS & M O R T , PUBLISHERS
A L L RIGHTS RESERVED INCLUDING T H E RIGHT
TO REPRODUCE THIS BOOK, OR A N Y PORTIONS
THEREOF, I N A N Y FORM EXCEPT FOR T H E I N -
CLUSION OF BRIEF QUOTATIONS IN A REVIEW.
LIBRARY OF CONGRESS CATALOG N U M B E R : 79-116971

ISBN: 0-8323-0217-1
Printed in the United States of America
SECOND EDITION
CONTENTS
Part One: A History
Introduction vii
1. L O N G EXISTENCE OF T H E NORTHWEST TRIBES 1
2. F I X E D L I N G U A L SIMILARITIES 3
3. TRADE LANGUAGES 7
4. T H E JARGON BEFORE T H E TRADING POST 10
5. A PREHISTORIC SLAVE TRADE 12
6. CHINOOKS, CLATSOPS, AND COAST TRIBES 14
7 . M U L T N O M A H S AND T H E I R NEIGHBORS 16
8. EXPLORERS U N A W A R E OF JARGON'S EXISTENCE 18
9. JARGON WORDS IN JEWITT'S VOCABULARY 20
10. CHINOOK TEXTS OF F R A N Z BOAS 23
11. JARGON WORDS T H A T C O M E F R O M PURE CHINOOK 26
12. N A T I V E CONTRIBUTIONS TO THE JARGON.... 29
13. SPELLING AND PRONUNCIATION OF CHINOOK 31
14. CHINOOK JARGON AS A LITERARY LANGUAGE 34
Part Two: A DICTIONARY
G R A M M A R OF THE JARGON ...,. 53

CHINOOK-ENGLISH DICTIONARY 57
ENGLISH-CHINOOK DICTIONARY 104
Appendix 167
v
INTRODUCTION
IT IS NOW MORE THAN A HUNDRED

years since the first attempt was made to compile a dictionary of the
Chinook Jargon, the early trade language of the Pacific Northwest.
This Jargon was in use among the natives of the region when the
first explorers and maritime traders arrived. Captain John Meares
used a Jargon word when he related in his Journal, in 1788, that the
exclamation of Nootkan Chief Callicum, on tasting blood, was cloosh.
Cloosh is equivalent to the Jargon word kloshe meaning "good."
John Rodgers Jewitt, in his account of his captivity among the
Nootkans, 1803-05, as the personal slave of Chief Maquinna, gave
what purported to be a Nootkan vocabulary of some eighty words.
In it are ten which are found in the Chinook Jargon. Captains Meri-
wether Lewis and William Clark were spoken to in the Jargon by
Chinook Chief Concomly, when they were camped on the north side
of the Columbia in the fall of 1805.
At the time the words were recorded they were thought to be
from the tribal dialect of the Nootkans on the west coast of Van-
couver Island and from that of the Chinooks at the mouth of the
Columbia. These three widely separated circumstances furnish the
first records of the existence of the as-yet-unsuspected Jargon.
Neither Meares nor Lewis and Clark had any inkling that there were
two languages in use among these tribes. Jewitt arrived at this con-
clusion in trying to render a Nootkan war song into English, but he
had had no intercourse with any but the Nootkans and could not
know that the words he learned and wrote in 1804 or 1805 were
being written at the same time into the records of Lewis and Clark
at the mouth of the Columbia. Jewitt believed the Nootkans had
vii
CHINOOK: A HISTORY AND DICTIONARY
two languages, one for poetical expression and the other for every-
day use.
By 1811 John Jacob Astor had founded Astoria, and ten years
later the Hudson's Bay Company had established itself on the Co-
lumbia. In the meantime the explorers and traders had been coming
by land. Somewhere and sometime during this period the existence
of the Jargon became known. All the Indians talked it to each other
and resorted to it in their conversations with the whites. Knowledge
of this trade language became a necessary part of the trader's equip-
ment.
The first serious attempt to reduce it to writing was probably that
of Blanchet, an early missionary in Oregon. He and his companion,
Father Demers, had to instruct numerous tribes of Indians as well
as the wives and children of the whites, all of whom spoke the
Chinook Jargon. These two missionaries mastered the language
quickly and began to preach, using it as their medium of communi-
cation. Father Demers composed a vocabulary, used the Jargon for
the words of the canticles his people were taught to sing, translated
into it all the Christian prayers and used it exclusively in all their
services and work of instruction.
Since that time something more than fifty dictionaries and vocabu-
laries have been compiled, printed and used, some of them quite
primitive, restricted and crude. George C. Shaw's Dictionary, The
Chinook Jargon and How To Use It (1909), stands out from all
others in its completeness. In compiling his work Mr. Shaw went
exhaustively into all the standard authorities, examining every pre-
viously published volume pertaining to the Jargon, and every docu-
ment and unpublished manuscript available as well. His research
was careful and painstaking and his dictionary is in all respects
authoritative.
The present volume embodies Shaw, and for the first time since
his dictionary appeared, attempts to go farther, in that it searches
out the origin of the Jargon, goes into the history of this strange
tongue from the first recorded words found in the logs and journals
of the earliest explorers, and by comparing them finds that the Jar-
viii
INTRODUCTION
gon was in such common use among tribes spread over a wide area
as to preclude any but the theory that for centuries it must have
been the one great vehicle of communication in prehistoric tribal
trading intercourse. This book, therefore, is a narrative history and
complete lexicon of the Chinook Jargon.
Knowing the value of Mr. Shaw's work, and the labor it would
save in re-examining all the authorities he scrutinized so closely,
the author of this book purchased from him his interest in The Chi-
nook Jargon and How To Use It, taking from him an assignment
of his copyright and recording it with the Register of Copyrights at
Washington.
Among other notable compilations, the most authoritative is that
of George Gibbs, who spent twelve years on the Northwest Coast in
the first half of the past century. After Gibbs, the most important
work was done by Horatio Hale. The Jargon was also studied by
many authorities including Henry Schoolcraft, Franz Boas, Myron
Eells, Charles Tate, Tertius Hibben, James Swan, John Gill, and
others.
Around 1875, fully one hundred thousand persons spoke the Jar-
gon. Among all the generations since 1811, or thereabouts, it has
been used by upwards of a quarter million persons, to many of
whom it was an everyday necessity.
The Jargon was so widely used because—though short on beauty
and refinement of detail—it was able to communicate successfully
between persons of different tribes, nationalities, and races. It was
practical and unpretentious. It absorbed what was useful and dis-
carded the useless.
When the Nootkans paddled down the coast *to makuk, or trade,
the Clatsops and Chinooks added that word to their own vocabulary;
and it little mattered how it should be spelled—makuk or the later
mahkook. Theirs was not a written jargon but an oral one—a com-
munal language that was democratic in its make-up. It had to be
based on sounds pronounceable by a wide variety of linguistic
groups.
IX
CHINOOK: A HISTORY A N D DICTIONARY
As the French-Canadian and English and American traders in-

vaded Indian country, the natives were introduced to an impressive
number of new objects, which required names; and new sounds,
which they attempted to imitate. However, their imitation often fell
far short of the original—which bothered the users of the Jargon not
at all.
Some of the most involved adaptations were from the French.
French Jargon words often bore little likeness to the original French
spelling, when recorded by later compilers of Jargon dictionaries. An
interesting example is the French word for mother—mere—which like
other French words clung to its article la (the), when taken over by
the Indians. In the Jargon, la mere lost the r sound because of the
difficulty they had pronouncing it; so, we find the word mother writ-
ten lamai, lummieh, lumnei, and so forth. Further, in the Jargon,
lamai came to mean "old woman." They had their Nootkan word
klootchman (from the Nootkan klootsma) for the words woman,
wife, or female; and a mother was definitely an older woman, a
matron. Note, though, that in the Jargon, "man" is simply man and
"old man" is oleman, only slightly changed from the English. Be-
cause the Indian male did the trading and the more important "com-
municating," presumably in early times he needed no particular
designation. It was an oral language and he was the speaker.
Generally, when the French word was feminine gender, as la
mere, the la became an integral part of the later recorded form,
the same being true of the masculine form le (the). For example, in
the Jargon, it was le pan (bread), le sak (sack or bag), or le seezo
(scissors). The Chinook-English Dictionary contains a number of
words starting with la and le, with hyphens showing the close rela-
tionship: le-pan, le-sak, and le-seezo. In the English-Chinook Dic-
tionary these forms are further tightened to: lepan, lesak, and le-
seezo, or sometimes just plain sezo.
An occasional word in the Jargon developed from more than one
language, when it was necessary to combine several words to achieve
the total meaning. If you look up the word "grog" in the English-
Chinook Dictionary, you will find an awkward but intriguing com-
x
INTRODUCTION
bination of letters forming the Chinook word lumpechuck (rum and

water, or grog). Broken down into its origin, lumpechuck becomes
quite reasonable. The Indian had difficulty with his r's, as in la
mere. Thus, lum came from rum; pe (and) from puis ("then" in
French, but "and" in the Jargon); and chuck (water) from the Noot-
kan chauk. Such is the derivation of lumpechuck, that famous con-
coction of rum and water, better known in the Queen's Navy as
"grog" or "diluted spirits."
Another example of how the face of a word often changed when
absorbed into the Jargon is the word for "helm," or steering appara-
tus of a ship. A part of this apparatus is the rudder—a new word
brought by invaders of the Northwest, who came by sea as well as
by land. Look up "helm" in the English-Chinook Dictionary, and
here also you will find an odd combination of letters—ludda. Again
the native had trouble with his r's, and "rudder" began and ended
with the troublesome sound. So, "rudder" became ludda and referred
to the entire steering apparatus.
The Chinook Jargon has given, though, as well as taken. From
the Nootkans came tyee (chief), from the Salish came skookum
(strong), and from the French siwash (a native rendition of the
French sauvage, meaning savage or aborigine). In good use in the
English language today are tyee, skookum, and siwash, with the
same meanings.
In view of the service the Jargon rendered to traders, trappers,
Indians, and pioneer settlers, and the fascinating insight this medley
of languages gives to a vanished time and culture, it has seemed to
the publishers that both the Chinook Jargon and its history are
worthy of preservation in a form that w i l l make for permanency.
This has been the purpose of the present book.
XI
CHIEF MAQUINNA OF THE NOOTKANS
From 1803-1805, while a personal slave of Chief Maquinna, John Rodgers
Jewitt recorded what purported to be a Nootkan vocabulary of some eighty
words, a number of which found their way into the Chinook Jargon.
Commerce between the Nootkans and Chinooks required some vehicle of
communication. The Nootkans learned some of the simpler and easier words
of the Chinook Dialect, and the Chinooks picked up a bit of Nootkan. This
.interchange of a very few words capable of conveying the simpler ideas of
barter and exchange became the nucleus of the Jargon.
Part One: A HISTORY
1. L O N G EXISTENCE OF T H E N O R T H W E S T TRIBES
A M O N G T H E NATIVE RACES OF NORTH A M E R I C A

the most interesting in many ways were those who originally
occupied the so-called Northwest Coast, the region that lay between
the Rocky Mountains and the Pacific Ocean as far south as the
Klamath country in Oregon and as far north as the long panhandle
of southeastern Alaska.
Their first contact with whites may date back to Drake and Juan
de Fuca. We know that Cook, Meares, Barclay, Vancouver, Fidalgo,
Eliza and other early explorers were among them. But it was not
until the publication of the Journal of Lewis and Clark and the
Narrative of John R. Jewitt that these races and their customs, char-
acteristics and tribal distinctions were given so much as trifling
notice. There were two chieftains mentioned in those early books
whose names, from that tim6, became interwoven with the history
of the region—Concomly of the Chinooks at the mouth of the Colum-
bia River and Maquinna, Tyee of the Nootkans, living on the west
coast of Vancouver Island. Aboriginal history begins with their
names. A l l that lies back of them is Mystery.
In speculating on the origin of the American aboriginal races we
may weigh probability and possibility and reach approximate con-
clusions but we will never be able to prove these conclusions to our
own satisfaction.
Among their records are remains of picture writing. Some of the
notations in use evidently had many arbitrary characters, but, with
1
2 CHINOOK: A HISTORY AND DICTIONARY
no known key and no way provided to mark the distinction between

a figure and a symbol, these remains and relics have become "mute
epitaphs of a vanishing race." Lacking a key, these signs, symbols
and mysterious fragments of a crude and barbaric record offer little
help as a means of studying the origin, history, migrations, social
structure, and possible tribal relations of the native American races.
There is no starting point, aside from generic racial likenesses,
apparently traceable from the Asiatic continent to the American,
and broad similarities in myths and traditions held in common. Nor
is there any charted course, in the absence of a record, to follow
other than these few surviving relics and crudely drawn picture
characters that have been mentioned. These, because of their un-
relatedness, bewilder rather than aid in the pursuit of any scientifi-
cally conclusive research.
Two theories about these aboriginal tribes, however, seem cer-
tain: they were here for a very long time and theirs was a sparse
population.
Apparently there was a long period between the Cliff Dwellers
and the savages known to the first explorers of the Southwest. It
seems equally true that the Mound Builders and the Indians of
La Salle's day were far from contemporaneous.
There are shell deposits on the Maine coast and shell dikes on
Puget Sound—one at Birch Bay, particularly—which can be nothing
less than accumulations or slow accretions of a more or less stable
population over a long period of time.
These races subsisted mainly upon the chase. The hunters and
fishers were the providers of the family and tribal larders. An ade-
quate game supply could co-exist, century after century, only with
a sparse population.
The 1910 census shows 400,000 people of native Indian and
mixed Indian blood—Indian descent—on all the American continent
north of Mexico, Alaska and the Eskimo fringe of the Arctic shores
included. As only a comparatively few of all the tribes are extinct,
this bears out the sparsely populated theory. James Mooney, a
FIXED L I N G U A L SIMILARITIES 3
United States government expert, estimated the 1492 population of

the continent, exclusive of Mexico, at 1,115,000.
A sparse population, here for a relatively short time, could not
have left the shell mounds and dikes, the flint and stone arms and
tools, the copper implements, the earth mounds of the Ohio valley,
the cliff dwellings and other relics, distributed as they were over
the wide and unrelated areas on which they have been found. These
evidences in the aggregate preclude any but the theory of long-
time occupation.
2. F I X E D L I N G U A L SIMILARITIES
T H E THEORY OF C O M M O N ORIGIN IS SUPPORTED

by certain fixed similarities found in the languages spoken by all
the native tribes, the most pronounced of which is that of idiom and
the order of words in sentence building. The theory is also sup-
ported by the narrative style in the literal translations of myths and
texts.
Daniel G. Brinton comments on this theory in his Myths of the
New World (1868):
The spoken and written language of a nation reveals to us
its prevailing, and to a certain degree its unavoidable mode of
thought. Here the red race offers a notable phenomenon.
Scarcely any other trait, physical or mental, binds together its
scattered clans so unmistakably as that of language. From the
Frozen Ocean to the Land of Fire, with few exceptions, the
native dialects, though varying endlessly in words, are alike
in certain peculiarities of construction, certain morphological
features, rarely found elsewhere on the globe, and nowhere
else with such persistence.
So foreign are these traits to the grammar of the Aryan
tongues that it is not easy to explain them in a few sentences.

They depend on a peculiarly complex method of presenting
the relations of the idea in the word. This construction has
been called by some philologists polysynthesis; but it is better
to retain for its chief characteristic the term originally applied
to it by Wilhelm von Humboldt, incorporation.
What it is will best appear by comparison. Every grammati-
cal sentence conveys one idea with its modifications and rela-
tions. Now a Chinese would express these latter by uncon-
nected syllables, the precise bearing of which could only be
guessed by their position; a Greek or a German would use
independent words, indicating their relations by terminations
meaningless in themselves; a Finn would add syllable after
syllable to the end of the principal word, each modifying the
main idea; an Englishman would gain the same end chiefly by
the use of particles and by position.
Very different from all these in the spirit of an incorporative
language. It seeks to unite in the most intimate manner all
relations and modifications with the leading idea, to merge
one in the other by altering the forms of the words themselves
and welding them together, to express the whole in one word,
and to banish any conception except as it arises in relation to
others. Thus in many American tongues there is, in fact, no
word for father, mother, brother, but only for my, your, his
father, etc. This has advantages and defects. It offers marvel-
ous facilities for defining the perceptions of the senses with
accuracy, but it regards everything in the concrete. It is un-
friendly to the nobler labors of the mind, to abstraction and
generalization.
In the numberless changes of these languages, their bewild-
ering flexibility, their variable forms, and their rapid altera-
tions, they seem to betray a lack of individuality, and to re-
semble the vague and tumultuous history of the tribes who
employ them. They exhibit at times a strange laxity. It is
nothing uncommon for the two sexes to use different names
F I X E D L I N G U A L SIMILARITIES 5
for the same object, and for nobles and vulgar, priests and
people, the old and the young, nay, even the married and
single, to observe what seems to the European ear quite differ-
ent modes of expression. Their phonetics are fluctuating, the
consonantal sounds often alternating between several which in
our tongue are clearly defined.
Families and whole villages suddenly drop words and manu-
facture others in their places out of mere caprice and supersti-
tion, and a few years' separation suffices to produce a marked
dialectic difference; though it is everywhere true that the basic
radicals of each stock and the main outlines of its grammatical
forms reveal a surprising tenacity in the midst of these surface
changes. Vocabularies collected by the earliest navigators are
easily recognized from existing tongues and the widest wan-
derings of vagrant bands can be traced by the continued
relationship of their dialects to the parent stem.
The validity of these conclusions is shown by the ease with which

such ethnologists as Boas have gone from tribe to tribe, mastered
their dialects and collected their myths and traditions. Much of
the work of Boas was done among tribes remote from each other,
widely separated territorially, like the Chinooks and the Tsimshians,
who had lived each in its own locality always and whose linguistic
differences had centuries since become fixed forms of language.
Verne F. Ray is another who supports the theory that—contrary
to popular belief—the Chinook Jargon is of pre-white origin. He
observes, in "The Historical Position of the Lower Chinook in the
Native Culture of the Northwest" (Pacific Northwest Quarterly, Vol.
28, No. 4 ) :
"Aboriginally the mouth of the Columbia River, on both the Wash-
ington and Oregon sides, was occupied by natives of the Chinookan
linguistic stock. Those residing on the Oregon side were known as
the Clatsop, those on the Washington side, the Chinook. The latter
extended up the Washington coast as far as the northern shore of
Willapa Bay, formerly known as Shoalwater Bay. Adjoining the
Chinook and Clatsop in the river valley on the east were the Cath-
6 CHINOOK: A HISTORY A N D DICTIONARY
lamet, also Chinookan in speech. These three groups occupied a

signally important position in the cultural setting of the Northwest,
for within their territory four great streams of travel fused.
"Sea-going canoes from British Columbia and even Alaska met
vessels from the southern Oregon coast, while cruder dugouts carry-
ing traders from the Plateau east of the Cascades reached this great
commercial center via the Columbia waterway. The fourth route,
least important, led overland through the Cascade passes from the
interior of southern Washington. The development of the well-known
lingua franca, Chinook jargon, centered here. This jargon is dem-
onstrably of pre-white origin, contrary to popular belief. It was pre-
sumably a response to the demands of native commerce in which
speakers of highly divergent languages participated,..."
Conditions in primitive days preclude the possibility of any social

intercourse except occasional trading, for most of the time they were
at war because of long-standing, hereditary enmity. Indians of the
woods did not understand the ways of Indians of the prairies, nor
did Indians of the mountains understand the ways of the Indians of
the sea shores who lived on fish and traveled by canoe. Yet there is
the persistence of their particular mode of thought, peculiarities
of construction, and the morphological features, mentioned by Brin-
ton, which run through all their dialects and languages.
How striking this is may be seen by even a casual study of the
literal interpretations of their tribal myths, whether Chinook or Hai-
da, when rendered into parallel English. There is an actual mo-
notony in the similarity, in the order of words, in the construction of
their sentences, and particularly in the imagery and idiom so recog-
nizably Indian.
It seems almost inevitable that there should have existed among
them some common ways of intercommunication. Their picture
symbols was one. Another was the sign language, by means of
which Indians freely communicated with each other though belong-
ing to tribes whose dialects had not one word in common. It is
perhaps true that knowledge of the sign language and at one time
of the picture symbols, was part of every Indian's education, as
TRADE LANGUAGES 7
much so, no doubt, as his acquired knowledge of the habits of the

animals, birds and fishes upon which he subsisted.
But there was still another common medium of communication—
the trade language. Over many wide areas the Indians held com-
merce with each other in the days before civilization found this con-
tinent. They traded skins for meat, roots for fish, arrowheads for
canoes, the ornaments of one region for the ornaments of another,
stone implements for pottery, copper for blankets, baskets for wool,
grass or tanned-skin clothes or slaves for shell money.
One of the necessities of such prehistoric activities, when there
were only Indians to trade with other Indians, through the centuries
before Columbus, was some flexible, easily acquired language which
all could learn and use.
3. T R A D E LANGUAGES
T H E R E WERE SEVERAL SUCH JARGONS. One of

these (the Mobilian, it is called, though it no longer exists) was in
use for centuries; then it fell into disuse and after a time was en-
tirely lost. No one thought of preserving it, even as a philological
curiosity. It gave its last expiring gasp more than three-quarters of a
century ago.
Mobilian was the trade language of the great curve of the Gulf
Coast around which Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama and Florida are
grouped. This Jargon was used first by the aboriginal Americans in
their own commerce with each other and then by the Indians and
the freebooters, and fortune hunters who came among them in the
early European invasion of the region.
By a strange coincidence, at the opposite, the Northwest corner of
the United States, another language or Jargon, born of the neces-
sities of the native traders, came into existence and was in use for
unknown centuries. It is still occasionally spoken, though no longer

for purely trading purposes. It has survived as an interesting relic of
the vanishing race and has, to some extent, been incorporated in the
history, romance and literature of the Northwest.
The early whites in the Mobile region coveted the territory of the
native inhabitants, cared little for their trade—as there was neither
gold nor furs to be had—cared less for the Indians and nothing at all
for their languages. It was inevitable that these unfortunate native
races and their dialects, including this trade Jargon, should have found
a common grave. A l l the white settlers wanted of the Gulf natives was
their lands. These they got. Everything else was consigned to
oblivion.
A different situation existed in the far Northwest. Here the first
contact between the natives and the whites was with explorers and
traders. Exploration discovered a wealth of furs. Ships from all
countries came to trade in the world's greatest fur marts. These
were followed by Astor, the great North West Company, the auto-
cratic and powerful Hudson's Bay Company and hundreds of lesser
traders. The Indians were needed. They were the producers of the
vast wealth gathered by these great concerns and their independent
competitors. On the one hand were thousands of native hunters
skilled in the pursuit of the millions of fur-bearing creatures of the
woods, streams and tidal waters of this then uncharted region. On
the other, were men of Scotland, England, Russia, of the original
states and colonies and of the French provinces of Canada. The In-
dians held the key to all this fur wealth. The whites brought the
gewgaws, baubles and implements of civilization to tempt and de-
light them. This was primitive trade, but it was lucrative trade. The
longer the barrel of the musket, the more the canny trader got for it,
for it was the rule to pile the furs to be exchanged until their height
equaled the length of the coveted gun.
Settlement would have spoiled all this. The fur traders and com-
panies guarded the region jealously against all invasion. Pioneers
were not wanted, so the settler was kept out of the country, held
back from occupancy of the land, just as long as the traders and
TRADE LANGUAGES 9
Hudson's Bay factors could maintain their supremacy. The fur com-
panies ruled the region and held it intact for half a century, and
then shared it grudgingly with the ever-encroaching pioneer for an-
other third of a century after that.
Astor founded Astoria. The North West Company took it away
from him. The Hudson's Bay Company absorbed the North West
Company—and later established its principal factory at Fort Van-
couver. In a few years the invasion of Oregon began. The Company
removed to Nisqually but the restless tide of pioneering immigration
came over the Cowlitz trail to Puget Sound and in a few years more
crowded the great fur company too close for comfort. It moved
again and established the city of Victoria on Vancouver Island. Then
gold was discovered on the Fraser. The autocratic rule of the Hud-
son's Bay Company was broken forever.
At first the only trappers were Indians. They supplied all the furs
that went either to the freebooters of the sea or the traders who
came overland from the already depleted regions of Canada and our
own northern tier of states—territories, then. The Indians were nec-
essary aids and allies to both sea and land traders. Furs were the
one resource of the country.
Drake, Juan de Fuca, Cook, Meares, Barclay, Vancouver and all
their tribe were explorers and not traders. They came and they went
away, but their journals do not record that they were interested in
the native either as a type or as a race, in his languages or his cus-
toms, except that, perhaps, of cannibalism. Several make mention of
this practice, but none of them was aware that the cannibalism re-
ferred to was more of a rite than the indulgence of a depraved
appetite. A l l of these explorers were looking for a certain fabled
strait which was to lead them by some easy northern way from the
Pacific to the Atlantic.
But some of them brought back furs and all of them, no doubt,
told their friends and kindred of the fur wealth of the Pacific North-
west. The Russians were already in possession of an immensely
profitable trade in the region now known as Alaska. Traders followed
in the wake of explorers and came into direct and immediate contact
with the native races.
One of the first things the traders learned regarding these tribes was
that, while many differing dialects were spoken, there was a second
language they all talked, a language of limited vocabulary but quite
capable of furnishing an adequate vehicle for trading purposes. Al-
most the first recorded words of this common language are found in
the Journal of the Lewis and Clark expedition. These explorers were
in the territory of the Lower Chinooks at the time—the mouth of the
Columbia—so this trade language or Jargon got the name of Chinook
—Tschinuk, it was spelled at first. The word degenerated into Chi-
nook, just as Tschehalis became Chehalis—and Chinook it is today.
Because it is purely a trade language, the origin of which is un-
known, some have advanced the theory that it was an invention of
the Hudson's Bay Company. There is evidence, however, that it was
in use long before the Hudson's Bay Company appeared on the
scene.
The Chinook or Tschinuk tribe—we will from now on use only the
later spelling for the tribe and the word w i l l be Chinook—had its
own dialect, which differed materially from the dialects of even the
nearest neighboring Indians, the Cathlamets or Chehalis, and which
bore no resemblance whatever to the dialects of such remoter tribes
as the Nootkans, Makahs and Quillayutes—but all spoke this Jargon.
4. THE JARGON BEFORE THE TRADING POST
I T MUST BE REMEMBERED THAT all this was

taking place—including the voluminous record of Jewett and the
meager one of Lewis and Clark, as far as the Jargon was con-
cerned—before the Hudson's Bay Company, Astor, or the North
West Fur Company had established posts on the Pacific. It was even
JARGON BEFORE T H E TRADING POST 11
before they had sent their scouts, traders or factors into the territory.
It was not until April 12, 1811, six years after Lewis and Clark's visit
and Jewitt's release from captivity, that Astor planted his American
Fur Company near the mouth of the Columbia and founded the
present city of Astoria, Oregon. It was in this same year that Astor
bought out the Mackinaw Company, rival of the North West Fur
Company, and merged it with his own American Fur Company.
The North West Company established its headquarters at Fort
William, on Lake Superior, in 1805, and had not as yet penetrated
west of the headwaters of the Mississippi.
Though Mackenzie, a partner of the North West Company, had
crossed the Rocky Mountains and had reached the Pacific as early
as July, 1793, coming out at the mouth of the Bellacoola in British
Columbia, no posts were established by any company for some years
thereafter. Simon Fraser, John Stuart and David Thompson all came
later, traveling in part the trail of Mackenzie, but reaching the
Pacific at points much farther south. The men of the North West
Company had come as far west and south as Fort Okanogan by
the time Astor's expedition reached the mouth of the Columbia.
Hearing of possible rivalry, the Northwesters prepared to contest
occupancy of this territory, and sent an expedition to the new post
at Astoria. In October, 1813, Astoria passed into the possession of
the North West Company. Not until then did this concern reach the
sea. In 1821 they sold out to the Hudson's Bay Company, which
prior to that time had no post on the western ocean; but from that
date until driven away by encroaching settlement, the Hudson's
Bay people ruled the entire region.
Up to Astor's time the fur trade was entirely one of maritime ac-
tivity. Between 1811 and 1821 it was taken over and absorbed by
men who would dwell among the Indians, marry their women, raise
halfbreed families and live with the natives on intimate enough re-
lations to affect their customs, languages and habits of thought.
This seems to establish as a fact that the Jargon was in use among
the natives as a trading language long before the trader and trapper
arrived on the scene, and that contact with the whites enlarged and
enriched it by the addition of many words of French and English

derivation.
With the coming of the white man, making known to the Indian
the weapons, the luxuries and the vices of civilization, came the need
of extending the Chinook to cover new conditions. He could not say
"carbine" or "fire" so the words became "calipeen" and "piah," The
Canadians called the hand "la main," and the Indian came at last to
use nearly the same sound. Thus English and French words were
grafted upon the Chinook Jargon.
5. A PREHISTORIC SLAVE T R A D E
T H E CHINOOKS OF T H E LOWER C O L U M B I A
were one of the most powerful tribes on the Pacific Northwest Coast
and by virtue of numbers and warlike qualities held sway over much
of the region. They were surrounded by such immediate and lesser
tribes as the Clatsops, Cathlamets, Wahkiakums, Chehalis and nu-
merous others extending far up the river to the Klickitats, Nez Perces
and Walla Wallas.
Among the tribes along all this coast and far into the interior, slav-
ery was an established and time-honored institution. Taking and
selling slaves was a commercial pursuit. The Chinooks dignified it
by making it the one great business in which they engaged. They
were the profiteers in this particular trade. They made raids upon
their neighbors, conquered tribes and villages and sold the victims
to other warlike masters living in the wildernesses to the north and
northwest.
The Nootkans were among the Chinooks' best customers. That
was because they had a monopoly on the shell money supply. In
certain comparatively shallow waters of their tribal territory, on sub-
merged shelves and banks known to them and controlled by them,
PEEHISTOKIC SLAVE TBADE 13
certain small but beautiful shells were found. The supply was
limited, which added to their value. The method of fishing for them
was one known in those early times only to the Nootkans and favor-
ed related tribes. The wealth of the Nootkans lay in these shells.
They were the money of all the tribes. The Nootkans coveted slaves
and used them for all the labor of the villages, fisheries and camps.
The Chinooks could furnish an unfailing supply of slaves. Both these
tribes grew rich exchanging shell money and slaves. The Nootkans
resold the men and women bought from the Chinooks. It is said
that often a slave lost his identity completely and finally had no
recollection of his former home or people.
This business required some vehicle of communication. The Noot-
kans learned some of the simpler and easier words of the Chinook
dialect, and the Chinooks picked up a bit of Nootkan.
This interchange of a very few words capable of conveying the
simpler ideas of barter and exchange became the nucleus of the Jar-
gon. It was gradually added to by the acquisition of easy Salish and
Kwakiutl expressions. A Cathlamet word is broadly Chinook, as the
Cathlamets are a Lower Columbia people and rather closely related
tribally to the Chinooks. Any Chehalis word is Salish, as the Chehalis
belong to that family. The Makahs are entirely surrounded by Salish
stock, but are an isolated group of Nootkans, separated from the
parent tribe by the straits of Juan de Fuca. A Bellabella word is
Kwakiutl, since the Bellabellas are an important tribe of the Kwa-
kiutl family, as are the Heiltsuq and Nimpkish. The Nootkans live
on the west coast of Vancouver Island and the Kwakiutl on the
east coast and the contiguous mainland of British Columbia.
A l l of these tribes traded among themselves, using this trade lan-
guage for the purposes of their commerce. Consequently there are
words of all these tribal dialects and family stock tongues to be
found in the Jargon.
The theory of this work is that the Jargon had its beginning in the
trade necessities of the prehistoric, centuries-old slave and shell
money commerce carried on primarily between the Lower Chinooks
and the equally powerful, intelligent and enterprising Nootkans; that
it slowly developed by accretion in their increasing contact with

other Indian nations, taking a word here and a word there from the
dialects of other tribes; and that it was finally used by all of the
Indians of the Northwest Coast in their commercial relations.
The vocabulary was very limited then, and still is; but the words
were flexible and capable of conveying many meanings, depending
for that upon emphasis, stress, tone of voice and gesture.
After the traders came, in the early years of the last century, words
of French and English origin were added and the Jargon grew into
a trade language, comprehensive enough for all purposes of inter-
course between all the tribes and all the whites within the territory
extending from what is now southern Oregon to southeastern Alaska
and from the shores of the Pacific east to the Rocky Mountains. It
finally developed into its present-day form.
At one time the Chinook Jargon was spoken by approximately a
hundred thousand persons, Indians and whites and mixed bloods.
Nearly all of the early settlers of Oregon, Washington and British
Columbia, miners, loggers and traders, too, spoke it as fluentiy and
as constantly as the Indians, finding it indispensable because of their
intimate and close relations with the natives. The Jargon probably
reached its maximum popularity and usefulness in the seventies and
then began to go into decline. W i t h the advent of the transcontinent-
al railroads and the consequent inrush of an immigration that wholly
submerged the native population, it fell into disuse.
The following material on the Chinooks, Clatsops, and Multno-
mahs was adapted from John Kaye Gill (1851-1929), an authority on
the Jargon.
6. CHINOOKS, CLATSOPS A N D COAST TRIBES
T H E INDIANS OF T H E C O L U M B I A WEST OF C E L I L O
were lighter in color than those of the Missouri and Upper Columbia;
also a little under the size of the plains people. They were not as
CHINOOKS, CLATSOPS A N D COAST TRIBES 15
active nor so robust as the eastern tribes, nor so able to endure hard
labor and exposure. The men were well made, broad and heavy
shouldered from the constant use of the paddle. The women rather
inclined to corpulence, and both sexes were bow-legged from sitting
in canoes. They were rather peaceably disposed and fairly honest in
their dealings with each other, but over-tempted by the strange treas-
ures of the white man and inclined to steal from them.
Among some bands, especially those of the lower Columbia, heads
were flattened in infancy, apparently with no harmful effects for the
child later on. The dress of the men was a single robe of skins, not
covering more than half the body from neck to knee. Most of the
robes thus worn by men, and sometimes by women, were made from
the skins of the big ground squirrel. Finer skins were also worn, the
beaver and the priceless sea otter among them. Neither men nor
women wore leggings or moccasins. The women wore skirts of long
fringe twisted or braided from the inner bark of the cedar, a beautiful,
silky, strong fibre—and sometimes a cape of the same, fastened about
their necks, and sometimes a cape or robe of skins. In rainy weather
both sexes wore hats or caps woven of grass and fine root-threads.
Their houses were built from planks, which they split with wedges
and axes of stone, horn and hardwood. The houses usually contained
several families, separated by partitions of woven mats of rushes,
which were also hung along the walls and spread on the bank of
earth which was left along the sides of the house and upon which
they sat and slept. The central part of the house was lower than the
sides, and in this the fire was made, and cooking and other indoor
work performed. A hole in the roof let out some of the smoke, but
they usually had fish hanging from poles overhead, so that they made
their smoky houses serve in curing their food. They sometimes built
beds of saplings, in bunk fashion, along the sides of their houses.
The women made many mats of rushes and grass, which were
brought out when "company" came, and spread for guests to sit or
sleep upon.
Camas bread, brick-like cakes of pressed and dried salal berries,
dried huckleberries, fern and flag roots, and above all wappatoes,
16 CHINOOK: A HISTORY A N D DICTIONAEY
were stored in their houses. Jerked venison in strips and dried and
smoked salmon were hung from rafters. Smelt and herring were dried
or smoked for winter food, and an important item of the coast tribes'
diet was whale and seal oil.
They made wide shelves along their house walls from floor to roof,
on which were stored the furs, mats, camas bread, baskets and house-
hold stuff.
The Clatsops were Chinooks, and once numerous from Tillamook
Head (which separated them from the "Killamux") to the Columbia.
These dwindled to a handful many years ago. The Chinooks of the
north shore of the Columbia, from Cape Disappointment to Gray's
Bay, had their principal village in the days of the Astor enterprise
on the west side of Scarborough Hill, near where the modern village of
Chinook now is. They had also an "upper village" at Point Ellice
and another farther up the Chinook River.
7. M U L T N O M A H S A N D T H E I R NEIGHBORS
The Multnomahs were of the Chinook family. The Tillamooks

reported that eighteen tribes lived beyond them to the southeast, all
speaking the Tillamook tongue. Farther away in the same direction,
they said, were six tribes of a different nation.
Lewis and Clark speak of the tribes along the river from the W i l -
lamette to the sea, whose habits, appearance, dress and language
were like those of the Chinooks and Clatsops. The latter were a tribe
of the Chinooks. The Claxtars, of the Clatskanie Valley, the Cowlitz
and the Klickitats were intruders in the lower river country. Doctor
Coues says the Claxtars were "a vagrant Athapascan tribe," and
were therefore a vast distance from their home people.
A little below the mouth of the Willamette, on the northeast shore
of Sauvies (Wappato) Island, was a large village of the Multnomah
MULTNOMAHS AND THEIR NEIGHBORS 17
tribe. A little above this village on the Willamette was a Klickitat

town. These Klickitats had driven the Multnomahs from that part
of the island in a barde. The Multnomahs occupied the southern and
western parts of this large island, and also the Scappoose plain and
lowlands. Old Charley Mackay, who knew the lower river and its
people from 1800 onward, said the Multnomahs had a large town on
the Scappoose Bay near Warren and another near Woodland on the
lowlands of Lewis River. The Multnomahs were of Chinook stock.
The Multnomahs were especially fortunate in their surroundings,
occupying the lowlands of the Willamette, the greater part of fertile
Sauvies Island, the lovely slopes and prairies of the Scappoose coun-
try—with the broad bays and inlets reaching inland from the Columbia
—and their own river, the Multnomah, now Multnomah Channel.
They had no horses, but plenty of canoes. Horses were used
scarcely anywhere on the Columbia shores from The Dalles west. In
the lakes of Sauvies Island grew wappatoes, the best food of the west-
ern tribes. This plant looks like the calla lily, and grows in rich,
muddy soil, usually under two feet of water or even more. The
squaws gathered the roots by wading out into die lakes, pushing a
small canoe, or paddling out in it and going overboard when they
reached the wappato patch. They worked the roots loose from the
mud with their toes. The roots then rose to the surface and were
thrown into the canoe when the woman was ready to go back to her
home. Great flocks of waterfowl fed in these lakes, the wappato being
also dieir favorite food. The large white swan was the wappato dig-
ger, long-necked and powerful, and when he raised his head to look
for the roots he had sent up, die ducks had often devoured them.
The weapons of hunters and warriors were the flint-tipped lance,
bow and arrows, and a mace. The fisherman used a pronged spear, or
a long lance with a detachable point of horn such as may still be seen
in use among Indians spearing salmon on the Columbia. They wove
nets of all kinds—for taking anything from smelt to salmon—from
strong fibrous roots, and caught large seafish with curious hooks of
bone or ivory. Trout, squawfish and sculpin were caught in great
numbers by baits tied to the end of a line, and when a fisherman felt
a bite he snatched the fish so quickly that he had it in the canoe before
it could let go. The clams of the seashore were a constant supply of
food, and their shells were used as spoons or saucers for broth.
A l l of these tribes were familiar w i t h the Chinook Jargon.
8. EXPLORERS U N A W A R E OF JARGON'S E X I S T E N C E
PRIOR TO 1800 THERE WAS HARDLY A N Y REFER-

ence to the Jargon, and then it was not identified as such. Meares
gives an account of a chief who hurt his leg and sucking the blood
from the wound said, "Cloosh!" Kloshe in the Jargon means "good."
The word is Nootkan; and Callicum, the Indian who used it, was a
Nootkan, a chief but little inferior in rank and authority to Maquin-
na, the Tyee of all the Nootkans. Tyee is Nootkan, meaning "great
chief." Jewitt frequendy uses the word in his narrative.
Jewitt was among the Nootkans as the personal slave of the Tyee
or chief, Maquinna, from March, 1803, to July, 1805, one of two sur-
vivors of a crew this tribe had massacred in revenge for indignities
put upon the chief by the captain of the ship.
Jewitt was rescued by Capt. Samuel Hill, of the brig Lydia, of
Boston in July, 1806. The Lydia sailed on a trading voyage along
the coast north of Nootka for several months, and in November, 1806,
entered the Columbia. About ten miles up the river—probably at
Knappton, near the site of the Point Ellice village of the Chinooks—
the vessel traded for furs. Jewitt saw medals among these Indians
which had been given by Lewis and Clark in the Spring of 1806.
Lewis and Clark spent the winter of 1805 and 1806 among the
Chinooks at the mouth of the Columbia, several hundred miles south
and east of Nootka Sound. Wik was given by Jewitt as a supposed
Nootkan word meaning "no," "not," while Lewis and Clark recorded
in their Journal that Concomly said to them, "Waket commatux"—
EXPLORERS U N A W A R E OF JARGON 19
do not understand—when they tried to converse with him. The wik

of Nootka thus was the waket of Concomly, and the wake of the
Jargon as it is spoken today. Concomly's commatux (kumtux in the
Jargon) was kummetak in Nootkan and kemitak among the Clayo-
quots, neighbors of the Nootkans.
Neither the story of Jewitt nor the Journal of Lewis and Clark
gives any evidence that the writers of these two contemporaneous
accounts of experiences among the Nootkans and Chinooks regarded
the words they quoted as other than words of the dialects of these
two widely separated and dissimilar tribes, three degrees of latitude
and two degrees of longitude apart, and unknown to each other.
Jewitt had an inkling of it; at least of the use of two separate
tongues among these people, but reached a wrong conclusion. This
is found in a footnote and an appendix to his narrative (Ithaca edi-
tion) in which he prints a "War Song of the Nootkan Tribe." In this
song occurs the expression "Ie-yee ma hi-chill," which he says means
"Ye do not know." But he adds, "This appears to be a poetical
mode of expression, the common one for 'you do not know' being
wik-kuma-tush." Then he observes, "From this it would seem that
they have two languages, one for their songs and one for common
use.
"You do not know," in the Jargon as it was spoken from 1820 or
1830 on and as it is spoken today, is "Mika wake kumtux," mika
meaning you.
Jewitt almost discovered the truth. The Nootkans, and all the
other northwest tribes, did have two languages; each had its own
dialect, and all had the common trade Jargon. The Nootkan tribal
songs were in Nootkan, but communication with outsiders was car-
ried on through the polyglot tongue built up by their commerce with
each other. Jewitt, of course, was an outsider, a remote foreigner,
and these Indians undoubtedly talked to him in mixed Jargon and
Nootkan. The Chinooks, from long habit, used the same method
when they tried to hold conversation with the men of the Lewis
and Clark expedition.
Jewitt left a very limited vocabulary which he calls "a list of words
in the Nootkan language the most in use." In it are 87 words, and
among these are ten easily recognizable as either belonging to the
Jargon or as words in the Nootkan tongue from which the Jargon
grew in part. In addition to these ten he makes frequent use of the
word tyee, which came from the Nootkan into the Jargon and which
means "chief" in each instance.
9. JARGON WORDS IN J E W I T T S VOCABULARY
THERE ARE TWO JARGON WORDS USED BY

Jewitt in the Narrative which are not found in his vocabulary. These
are tyee, referred to before, and pechak. Pechak is a Nittinat word,
and the Nittinats are Nootkan Indians. Pechak means bad. Ma-
quinna used the word when he returned the broken musket to
Captain Salter of the Boston; peshak is the Jargon for bad, but so
is mesachie. The latter is from the Chinook dialect, and is more
commonly used on Puget Sound and the Columbia than the Nittinat
word but the latter appears to have been in common use among the
Nootkan related tribes. Both peshak and mesachie are acceptable
and proper Jargon.
For the purpose of this argument we shall examine the ten words
referred to in Jewitt's vocabulary, and then we shall take up Chinook
dialect words contained in the book Chinook Texts by Dr. Franz
Boas. We will find i n both of these tribal dialects words which are
also in the Jargon, either just as used by the Chinooks and the Noot-
kans in their own languages, or which, with slight and easily recog-
nizable modifications, were taken from those dialects and converted
into accepted and standard Jargon.
As these words were used by both the Nootkans and the Chinooks
in their attempts to converse with the very first whites that came
JARGON WORDS IN JEWITT 21
among them—notably Meares in 1788, Jewitt in 1803 and Lewis and

Clark in 1804 and 1805—long before the advent of the Hudson's
Bay or any other fur company, this circumstance would seem to
fairly disprove the Hudson's Bay Company invention theory.
What the Hudson's Bay Company did to the language—after it
came into sole and supreme control of trading in this region—and all
it did was to enlarge and enrich the Jargon and extend its use over
the whole of its great Pacific Coast domain from Alaska to southern
Oregon and from the ocean to the Rocky Mountains.
Jewitt's Nootkan vocabulary gives the word klootzmah for woman,
klootz-chem-up for sister, tenassis-kloots-mah for daughter and
tenassis-check-up for son. Check-up is man. (We have followed
Jewitt's not very uniform spelling literally.)
In the Jargon klootchman is woman and terms (short e) is lesser,
little, younger. Tenas khotchman is little woman or daughter, and
terms man is son. Man is man in the Jargon. Boston man is Ameri-
can, due to the fact that the early ships trading on the coast came
largely from Boston. Then, with the Hudson's Bay Company came
the British influence, and King Chautsh man became Jargon for
Englishman, Chautsh being the nearest approach to George the
Indian was capable of.
There was another word that was a near equivalent then for per-
son, whether man or woman. It was tillikum. Some writers of Alaska
and northwest stories, who have heard the word, erroneously think
it means friend or partner and would restrict it to indicate some
very similar close personal friendship—a sort of super friendship.
The proper word for friend is sikhs, pronounced six. Tillikum is used
in that sense now, but was not so used originally.
Tillikum means people. The early Jargon and many of the dialects
recognized but two groups—tyee and tillikum. Every authority from
Gibbs to Shaw agrees on that. Nesika tillikums is our people. It is
far-fetched to try to make the word mean some deep, subde inner
relationship. There are no subtleties of meaning either in the
Jargon or in the dialects. An illustration of the flexibility of Chi-
nook—the Jargon—and of the manner in which sikhs may be em-
ployed is found in the concluding phrase of Told in the Hills (1891)

by Marah Ellis Ryan. That entertaining romance ends with the ex-
pression: Klahowya opitsah. It is meant to be an equivalent for
"goodbye sweetheart" but is a wrong expression.
No special word for sweetheart or lover exists in the Jargon. Opitsah
is literally "knife." So Klahowya opitsah really was "goodbye knife."
If the author had had her hero say: Klahowya opitsah sikhs she
would have used proper Jargon. Opitsah sikhs is literally "fork,"
friend of the knife. "Every knife has its fork," says Gill, so "opitsah
sikhs" is made to do duty for sweetheart or lover.
Tyee is chief or ruler. In the Nootkan only the highest chief seems
to have been a Tyee. In the Jargon Saghalie Tyee is God, literally
the ruler of heaven, the chief above. The word is commonly pro-
nounced as if it were spelled Sockalee.
Jewitt says the Nootkan for sky is sie-yah. In the Jargon siah is
away, far off, remote. If very far, it is indicated by prolonging the
last syllable, and if the speaker desires to indicate a very great
distance indeed, he prolongs the word and separates the syllables
to give almost the identical sound of Jewitt's spelling—s-i-e—yah!
It is quite likely that sky to the Nootkans was the "very-far-off."
"No," according to Jewitt, is wik. Concomly said waket to Lewis
and Clark. In the Jargon as it has been spoken for over a hundred
years the word is wake. Wake kumtux is "don't understand."
Iron, says Jewitt, is sick-a-miny. Chikamin is Jargon for metal, but
usually means money. The Indians knew nothing of paper as
money; and accepted only silver and lesser coins.
Mamook-su-mah in Jewitt's vocabulary is an expression which
means to go and fish, and to go and fish was work to the Indian,
about the only work he knew. Mamook is Jargon for work or for
any other performance—anything one does. Mamook muckamuck
is to get the food ready, prepare it. Ikta mika mamook is "what are
you doing?" Cultus mamook is bad work, evil deeds, doing the
wrong thing or doing it in the wrong way. Mamook kumtux means
to teach, literally to make known or to understand.
Chee-alt-see-klattur-wah is used in Jewitt's account as the
CHINOOK TEXTS OF BOAS 23
equivalent of "go away." Go in the Chinook Jargon is just klatawa,

and go away would be klatawa siah, or go yonder. It is probable
that the string of suffixes Jewitt uses qualifies or enlarges the mean-
ing of his klattur-wah.
Mahkook is to buy, sell, trade or exchange. It is one of the most
used of Jargon expressions. Jewitt spells it ma-kook and limits the
meaning to "to sell."
For "I understand" he uses the one word kom-me-tak. The proper
Jargon for "I understand" is Nika kumtux. This is kummatux when
spoken by a native Chinook, or was when there were any pure stock
native Chinooks alive.
10. C H I N O O K TEXTS OF FRANZ BOAS
BEFORE THIS INTERESTING NATIVE RACE—THE

Lower Chinooks—lost their last identity some valuable work was
done by Franz Boas in collecting and recording their myths and
stories. These were published by the Bureau of Ethnology of the
Smithsonian Institution under the tide Chinook Texts, but are now
out of print and copies are rare and difficult to obtain.
In 1891 Doctor Boas found only two people, Charles Cultee and
Catherine, who could speak Chinook (the original language), living
then at Bay Center, on Shoalwater Bay, among Chehalis Indians.
From Cultee Dr. Boas learned and wrote a number of the original
tribal tales or myths of the Indians of the Columbia. In his introduc-
tion to his book, Dr. Boas says:
The following texts were collected in the summers of 1890

and 1891. While studying the Salishan languages of Wash-
ington and Oregon I learned that the dialects of the Lower
Chinook were on the verge of disappearing, and that only a
few individuals survived who remembered the languages of

the once powerful tribes of the Clatsop and Chinook. This fact
determined me to make an effort to collect what little remained
of these languages.
I first went to Clatsop, where a small band of Indians are
located near Seaside, Clatsop County, Oregon. Although a num-
ber of them belonged to the Clatsop tribe, they had all adopted
the Nehalim language, a dialect of the Salishan Tillamook. This
change of language was brought about by frequent intermar-
riages with the Nehalim. I found one middle-aged man and two
old women who still remembered the Clatsop language, but it
was impossible to obtain more than a vocabulary and a few
sentences. The man had forgotten a great part of the language,
while the women were not able to grasp what I wanted; they
claimed to have forgotten their myths and traditions, and
could not or would not give me any connected texts. One old
Clatsop woman, who had been married to a Mr. Smith, was
too sick to be seen, and died soon after my visit. The few re-
maining Clatsops had totally forgotten the history of their tribe,
and even maintained that no allied dialect was spoken north
of the Columbia River and on Shoalwater Bay (now Willapa
Harbor). They assured me that the whole country was occu-
pied by the Chehalis, another Salishan tribe. They told me,
however, that a few of their relatives, who still continued to
speak Clatsop, lived on Shoalwater Bay among the Chehalis.
I went to search for this remnant of the Clatsop and Chinook
peoples, and found them located at Bay Center, Pacific County,
Washington. They proved to be the last survivors of the Chi-
nook, who at one time occupied the greater part of Shoalwater
Bay and the northern bank of the Columbia River as far as
Grays Harbor. The tribe has adopted the Chehalis language in
the same way in which the Clatsop have adopted the Nehalim.
The only individuals who spoke Chinook were Charles Cultee
and Catherine. While I was unable to obtain anything from the
latter, Cultee proved to be a veritable storehouse of informa-
C H I N O O K TEXTS OF BOAS 25
tion. His mother's mother was a Katlamat (Cathlamet) and his

mother's father a Quilapax; his father's mother was a Clatsop,
and his father's father a Tinneh of the interior. His wife is a
Chehalis, and at present he speaks Chehalis almost exclusively,
this being also the language of his children. He has lived for a
long time in Katlamat, on the southern bank of the Columbia
River, his mother's town, and for this reason speaks the Kat-
lamet dialect as well as the Chinook dialect. He uses the former
dialect in conversing with Samson, a Katlamat Indian, who is
also located at Bay Center. Until a few years ago he spoke
Chinook with one of his relatives, while he uses it now only
rarely when conversing with Catherine, who lives a few miles
from Bay Center. Possibly this Chinook is to a certain extent
mixed with Katlamat expressions, but from a close study of
the material I conclude that it is on the whole pure and trust-
worthy.
I have obtained from Cultee a series of Katlamat texts also,
which appear to me not quite so good as the Chinook texts,
but nevertheless give a good insight into the differences of the
two dialects. It may be possible to obtain material in this dia-
lect from other sources.
My work of translating and explaining the texts was greatly
facilitated by Cultee's remarkable intelligence. After he had
once grasped what I wanted, he explained to me the gram-
matical structure of the sentences by means of examples, and
elucidated the sense of difficult periods.
This work was more difficult as we conversed only by means
of the Chinook Jargon.
Boas's texts are written first in the pure Chinook dialect, as spoken
by Cultee, with an accompanying literal translation, line for line,
beneath the original. Each of the stories is followed by a free trans-
lation entirely in English.
These texts, as he relates, were told to him by Cultee, transcribed
into the difficult and complex dialect of the original Chinook, trans-
lated literally and again in free form, all by means of the Jargon,
26 CHINOOK: A HISTOKY A N D DICTIONARY
which shows its marvelous flexibility. Though well over half of the
words were derived from the Chinook, with contributions from the
Nootkans, other tribal dialects represented include the Chehalis,
Wasco, Klickitat, Clackamas, Bellabella, Cree, Clallam, and Calapoo-
ian. Added to these were words that imitated natural sounds, and
words picked up from the French voyageurs and the English and
American traders. The most guttural of the Jargon words are those
which came from the dialects of the Chinookan tribes.
These facts do seem to show beyond any possibility of doubt that
the Jargon came into existence during some long-past prehistoric
period, as a polyglot of native words for use in intertribal com-
mercial and trading intercourse, and that it was later enlarged to
fit the requirements of trade when the fur companies established
posts in the region.
The dominance of Chinook words also seems to indicate that the
Chinook were, as the early explorers and traders repeatedly said,
the dominant tribe of the Pacific between the 42nd and the 57th
degrees of latitude.
This dominance of Chinook words in the Jargon doubtless made
it easier for Dr. Boas to so faithfully record these texts. Study of
them will show the marked present-day similarity of many Jargon
words to the Lower Chinook dialect from which they came.
11. JARGON WORDS THAT COME FROM PURE CHINOOK
O N T H E VERY FIRST PAGE OF BOAS'S Chinook

Texts we find an old friend, alta. It is pronounced "ahlta," both in
the Jargon and in the original Chinook. It means "now," the present.
The next one is not so easily recognized because of Boas's attempt
to give it the exact sound of Cultee's pronunciation — smokst, the
equivalent of the numeral "two." It is mokst in the Jargon. Kwanisum
WORDS FROM PURE CHINOOK 27
(always) with a long "a" is pure Chinook; kwonesum with "o" pro-
nounced "ah" is Jargon.
According to Shaw, he-he, the Jargon for laugh, is onomatopoeia,
or the Indians' rude attempt to imitate sound; but Boas uses he-he
as Chinook for laugh. We must accept the word, therefore, as of
Chinook origin.
We find in the same text the strangely spelled word ncitkum. It
is used for the expression, "I am half." Half in the Jargon is sitkum.
Cultee probably pronounced it with a partial elision of the n sound
and an explosive s sound for the c. In Jargon sitkum dolla is half a
dollar. Sitkum siwash is half Indian, half breed, or literally half
savage; as siwash, a generic term applied to all the Indians of the
Northwest, is merely a corruption of the French word sauvage.
Farther along we find kwanisum again, but this time Boas spells it
kua-nEsum, giving a "q" sound to the ku, a long "a" and uses the
capital "E" to denote a partial elision of the sound of that vowel.
Kwanisum, wherever he uses it, is the equivalent of always.
Now we come to ikta and find it used for both what and things.
In the Jargon, ikta is what, becoming iktas for things.
Another old friend, rather uncouth in appearance, is a word he
strangely spells aiaq. The meaning in Boas's translation is quick; so
we readily recognize hyak, which is Jargon for quick, fast, hurry.
Then we encounter naika, the first personal pronoun " I " in Chi-
nook, which in the Jargon is nika. Likewise it is used for me and
my; and mika is you and yours, but is maika in the original and
mika in the Jargon.
O-pol-e-ka, according to Boas, means night. The Jargon for night
is simply polaklie—which also means darkness, or gloom like night.
Boas gives enatai as the equivalent of across or on the other side,
in Chinook. In the Jargon it loses a letter to become simply enati.
He cites kanauwe as Chinook for all. The Jargon uses konaway. He
gives ikanim for canoe; in the Jargon it is canim, long "a" and
accent on the last syllable.
In Boas's, or Cultee's, anqate, long ago, we have no difficulty in
recognizing ahnkuttie, Jargon for the same expression.
There are many others but these will be sufficient. Cultee was
talking the language of the ancient Chinooks to Dr. Boas, a tongue
that had been in use for untold centuries by an active, powerful,
warlike, once-numerous trading tribe of intelligent Indians. These
words are found alike in their dialects and in the Jargon. Their pro-
nunciations have undergone some transformations, modified by long
use among the many differing tribes and the half century or more
of later contact with white traders, but there is not much doubt that
more than half of the present Jargon vocabulary was in use as a
primitive, prehistoric trading language long before these Indians knew
that a white man or white race existed.
Concomly, chief of the Lower Chinooks, spoke words taken from
the original Nootkan when he said, "Waket commatux" for "I do not
understand" to Lewis and Clark in 1805. That was six years
before there had been other than maritime traders on this coast,
and sixteen years before there was a Hudson's Bay post anywhere
on the shores of the Pacific.
One word in Meares's account of his experiences on the Northwest
Coast in 1788, a phrase or two in the Journal of Lewis and Clark,
ten words of the Nootkan vocabulary given by Jewitt, two others
in the body of his Narrative—Twee and pechak—and his discovery
that the tribe had two languages (one he thought for purely poetical
expression in their war songs and lyrics and the other for common
use) show beyond doubt that the Jargon existed and was used by
widely separated tribes, at least—going all the way back to Meares's
quotation of the word cloosh spoken by Callicum—twenty-three years
before the Astor party arrived at the mouth of the Columbia; for
kloshe is original Chinook as well as Jargon and it was spoken by a
Nootkan in 1788 off the west coast of Vancouver Island.
Callicum's use of the word was natural. He was talking to a
stranger, a foreigner, a man from another tribe, even though the
tribe was white. The Jargon was the common means of communica-
tion under such circumstances among all the hundreds of tribes and
families of the whole vast region. The Nootkans used it in their
N A T I V E CONTRIBUTIONS 29
relations with Jewitt for the same reason, and so did Concomly, the
Chinook chief, or Tyee, in his attempt to talk to Lewis and Clark.
That the whites could not respond in kind may have given the
natives a poor opinion of the visitors' attainments. They may have
felt that the whites lacked education, and from the Indian standpoint
they did; but they respected the force of ships and firearms and the
wealth of goods the ships and traders brought with them, and in
time taught them the Jargon. At that point they all finally found a
common ground, for they could communicate with each other.
Though there were many ships in the maritime trade prior to
1800 there was litde contact before that with the natives. This ac-
counts for the meagerness of the records. The ship masters cared
only for furs. They cruised off shore during the summer, and the
Indians came out to them in canoes. When all the trading was done
the laden vessels sailed for the ports of China, or, if out for several
years, wintered in the Sandwich Islands. These ship traders knew
nothing of native customs, tribes or languages; cared nothing for
them, had no interest in such squalid people except the trade they
could carry on with them in the most primitive methods of exchange
and barter.
It is for this reason that study of their logs and records offers so
litde evidence either for or against die prehistoric origin of the trade
Jargon now known as Chinook.
12. N A T I V E CONTRIBUTIONS TO T H E JARGON
FOUR FAMILIES OF TRIBES ACCOUNT FOR MOST

of the dialect words in the Jargon, notably the Chinookan, the Salish,
the Wakashan and the Kwakiutl. The Chinook family, divided into
many tribes with somewhat differing dialects, lived in the valley of
the Columbia River from the Pacific Ocean up to the country of the
Klickitats. These tribes contributed the largest number of words to

the Jargon.
The second in importance is the contribution of the Nootkan
branch of the Wakashan group. Salish words are third and Kwakiutl
are fourth in number.
The Chinook family—including the important tribes of the Cath-
lamet, the Clatsop, the Wasco, and the Klickitats—seems to have
built the foundation of this coast trade language, and because of
their intimate trade relations in prehistoric tribal days with the Noot-
kans, with whom they exchanged slaves for shell money, words from
the Nootkans are second in number.
The Nootkans occupied the west coast of Vancouver Island and
comprised the Nittinat, Clayoquots, Tokwhats, Makahs and many
minor tribes. They were numerically strong, were warlike in char-
acter, possessed the trading instinct, and were daring seamen and
skilled hunters. They lived on a stormy coast of the wildest nature,
that was indented, however, by some excellent harbors to which the
early explorers learned to come for shelter and in time used as a
general rendezvous.
The Salish family lived on Grays Harbor, Willapa Harbor and on
Puget Sound. The most important of these, so far as the formation
of the Jargon is concerned, were the Chehalis, and after them the
Nisqually and Lummi tribes.
The important Kwakiutl contributions came from the tribe now
known as Bellabellas, but which in reality were the Heiltsuqs. They
lived on and around Millbank Sound, on the inside passage to
Alaska, which is to say on the inside of Vancouver Island, while the
Ahts—the Nootkans and their allies—lived on the outside. Both the
Ahts and the Kwakiutl were cannibals, but the practice was more
general among the Kwakiutl than among the Nootkans, and persisted,
too, among the former to a much later day. Slavery was practiced
among all these natives—Chinook, Salish, Wakashan and Kwakiutl.
The Jargon sprang directly from the necessities of this practice, as
slaves were the basis of their trade relations.
31
13. SPELLING A N D P R O N U N C I A T I O N OF C H I N O O K
I N COMPILING THIS DICTIONARY T H E AUTHOR

has aimed at a better uniformity of spelling. The early dictionaries
were written by men who, like Gibbs, went among the Indians and
acquired the Jargon from them. In different localities the natives
had different pronunciations. The words were written as they
sounded. As many of the early dictionaries were the work of teach-
ers, missionaries, writers and students of ethnological research the
result was as described by Eells. But in later years there has been
an effort at some sort of standardization. We feel that our spelling
is rational, that it represents the words as they are now pronounced
and that usage has given us a form to follow. We have tried to
follow it. As there are but few copies of older works on Chinook
to be found, even in the Northwest, where it was so widely used
not so long ago, we feel that the spelling adopted by this work w i l l
prove acceptable to all who know the Jargon,
Following are two statements in regard to the spelling, pronuncia-
tion and arrangement of Chinook words.
The first is by Myron Eells, author of Hymns in the Chinook Jargon
(1878) and the Manuscript Dictionary of the Chinook Jargon (1893).
It is widely believed that the best examples of the literature written
in the Chinook Jargon may be found in the works of Eells, two selec-
tions from which appear in Chapter 12 of this book, "Chinook Jargon
as a Literary Language."
The different ways in which some words are spelled is a

curiosity and simply shows what educated men w i l l do in this
line when they have no standard authority. Very seldom is any
word, even the simplest and easy one, spelled in the same way,
if it is found in several dictionaries, while some of them are
spelled in very many different ways ...
Other ways of spelling kalakala: culacula; kallakala; kalah-
kalah; kilakila; kulakula; kullukala; cullaculla; cullerculler;
CHINOOK: A HISTORY AND DICTIONARY
cullacullah; kullakullie; kullukulli; kulakulla, etc. An exami-

nation of many dictionaries w i l l show among other words—
konas, spelled in ten different ways: ahnkuttie and keekwulee,
each in twelve; klootchman and Kliminawhit, each in fifteen;
klatawa, seeowist, and memaloose, each in sixteen; taht-
lum, kloshe, and killapi, each in eighteen; and kunsih
in nineteen different ways; deaub is in twelve ways, and ooahut
in fourteen, but they show a wide variety of sound, deaub being
also dahblo, diaub, derb, leiom, and yaub; and ooahut being
hooihut, wayhut, wehkut, and oyhut. Even words which are
derived from the English generally have different spellings as
soon as the standard English authority is left, so that glease from
grease becomes gleese, gleece, glis, and klis; bed is also spelled
pet; moon is also mun; nose is also nos; stone is also ston; stock-
ing is also stocken, staken, and stoken; Sunday is also sante; tea
is also ti; pepah (paper) is also papeh, paper, paypa, papah,
pepah, pepa, and peppah; and warm also is spelled waum, warn,
wahm, and wawm. Shot, skin, man, and a few others have for
almost a wonder found no other way of being spelled.
There are three reasons for this difference in spelling—which

may occur even though the same sound of the letters is pre-
served; thus warn may be waum or wawm and still preserve the
same sound of a. Again, when any writer adopts a regular
schedule of sounds for each vowel, he will surely differ in spell-
ing from those who attempt to follow as near as possible the
English mode of spelling. Boas, St. Onge, and to a considerable
degree Durieu have done this, hence tea becomes ti; poolie, puli,
and so on.
Still farther, different modes of pronunciation in different
localities, and sometimes in the same locality, are the cause of
different ways of spelling. This is especially seen in the words
already referred to, ooahut and deaub; so kloshe becomes tlush
or tloos, and also a large number beginning with, kl begin with
tl in another place; tahlkie becomes tahnlkie, and so on. Some-
times indeed it is very difficult to discover the true sound, as
SPELLING A N D PRONUNCIATION 33
for instance, whether the first syllable of kalakala should be

spelled with an a or u, or the last one of tukamonuk with an
a or u, and so on. The mode of pronunciation, and hence the
mode of spelling, has undoubtedly changed somewhat since
Parker in 1835-6 wrote the first vocabulary. Hence in com-
paring the ways of spelling the reader ought to remember the
place where, the date when, and the system of pronunciation,
especially of vowel sounds adopted by each writer. ...
There is no setded authority in regard to the order of the
words in this language. They are generally placed in much the
same order as they are in the language which the speaker has
been accustomed to use, if he be not well acquainted with the
language. An English speaking person w i l l place them in much
the same order that he would in English, but there are many
phrases where this is not true, the order of which must be
acquired by practice: for instance,—halo nika kumtuks,— not I
understand, is far more common than nika halo kumtuks. An
Indian who has learned somewhat the English order, will ar-
range the words in much the same way; but if the speaker is
an old Indian who knows but litde about English he w i l l ar-
range them much as he is accustomed to do in his native
tongue, which is usually very different from the English. As
the tendency, however, is not for the whites to learn the native
Indian languages, but for the Indians to learn the English, so
the tendency is toward the English order of the words.
The additional two paragraphs below, the first dealing with the
orthography and the second with the pronunciation of Chinook, are
by Horatio Hale. Hale was the philologist with the Charles Wilkes
scientific expedition that visited the Columbia and the Willamette
Valley during the year 1841:
As will be seen, the orthography of the Jargon is unsettled

and capricious. Most writers spell Indian and French words
"by the ear," but use the ordinary English spelling for the Eng-
lish words comprised in the language, without regard to uni-
formity. ... Some writers, however, retain in the Jargon the

"digraph" gh, to express, in some words of Chinook origin, the
sound of the German guttural ch in Buch. ...
As the Jargon is to be spoken by Englishmen and French-
men, and by Indians of at least a dozen tribes, so as to be alike
easy and intelligible to all, it must admit no sound which can-
not be readily pronounced by all. The numerous harsh Indian
gutturals either disappear entirely, or are softened to h and k ...
On the other hand, the d, f, g, r, v, z, of the English and French
become in the mouth of a Chinook, t, p, k, I, w, and s. The
English j, (dzh), is changed to ch, (tsh). The French nasal n
is dropped or is retained without its nasal sound.
Eells respected the work done by Hale on the Chinook Jargon

but felt the latter 'labored under the disadvantage of not having
mingled much with those who have used the language for about
fifty years." W i t h Eells it was far different. He had spent a life-
time mingling with them.
14. C H I N O O K JARGON AS A L I T E R A R Y L A N G U A G E *
A Chinook w o r d is elastic and expresses a broad and general idea
rather than one altogether specific, hence the extreme elasticity of
the Chinook jargon. BUCHANAN
" A GROTESQUE J A R G O N C A L L E D C H I N O O K I S T H E L I N G U A - F R A N C A O F
the whites and Indians of the Northwest," wrote Theodore Winthrop
in 1853. "It is a jargon of English, French, Spanish, Chinook, Kalla-
pooga, Haida, and other tongues, civilized and savage. It is an at-
tempt on a small scale to nullify Babel by combining a confusion of
tongues into a confounding of tongues—a witches' caldron in which
the vocable that bobs up may be some old familiar Saxon verb,
having suffered Procrustean docking or elongation, and now doing
' F r o m History of Oregon Literature (Metropolitan Press 1935) by Alfred Powers. V a r i a -

tions here in Jargon spelling are typical. The writers expressed how the words sounded to
them. However, most of these variations are superficial; the basic sounds generally come
through.
As A LITERARY LANGUAGE 35
substantive duty; or some strange monster, evidently nurtured with-

in the range of tomahawks and calumets. There is some danger
that the beauties of this dialect will be lost to literature. The
Chinook jargon still expects its poet."
To a surprisingly extensive and varied degree it is not lost to
literature. And, as several selections w i l l show, it has had its poets.
Altogether in a literary way it is an impressive language. Perhaps
no other composite and manufactured tongue has served such noble
and poetic purposes of expression. The missionaries used it as the
successful medium for the communion of the spirits of two different
peoples. From wilderness camps, hymns and prayers went up to
God in the blue heaven above in the Chinook Jargon, which had a
sufficient richness and flexibility for this exaltation and praise. Vast
and magnificent it must have been, and very beautiful, as it came
from tribal throats. A greater triumph it was for the Chinook Jargon
than for Christian doctrine, considering that, as at the 1839 camp
meeting at The Dalles, the Indians sometimes naively proposed that
they ought to be paid for their excellent demonstrations of worship.
W i t h more sincerity, an Indian girl used it for a death wail—a
song of hope and immortality, with its beautiful refrain of Tamala,
tamala—tomorrow and tomorrow. The last words of a Yakima chief
were uttered in this tongue. When we read the dying expression of
Stonewall Jackson—"Let us cross over the river and rest under the
shade of the trees"—we realize what a beautiful language English is,
when kept beautiful in its simplicity. So when Chief Qualchien in
a quarter of an hour's time faced dark extinction, he cried out in
Chinook Jargon a plea that reverberated in the recollection of an
American soldier all his life as having the profoundest pathos of
any sounds he ever heard. From its initial utilization as the parlance
of barter to such uses as these, how far had the language advanced!
It was such a language that Myron Eells could say of it that for
eighteen years he had "talked in it, sung in it, prayed and preached
in it, translated considerable into it and thought in it. ..."
Thought in it! For a white man it had become a vehicle of
thought. To the lips of the Indian it came spontaneously to express
his deepest feelings. Though the vocabulary was derived from

many sources, the Indian's mind and spirit were the sieve through
which it was strained. His was the governing philology. This kept it
simple. This accounts for the child-like freshness and charm of the
word combinations. This, in short, is what made it a literary lan-
guage instead of a harsh, emotionless and artificial esperanto.
Much of the poetry of the Chinook Jargon comes from the appli-
cation of a single adjective to an assortment of nouns to form by this
combination new nouns instead of having separate substantives. For
instance, take terms, an adjective meaning small. Then take this list
of nouns: snass—rain, waum—warm, cole—cold, moos-moos—cow,
klootchman—woman. Then tenas snass would be a shower—little
rain; tenas waum would be spring and tenas cole would be au-
tumn—the season when it was getting a little warm or a little cold;
tenas moosmoos, a small cow or a calf, and tenas klootchman, a
small woman or a girl. How much more charming these synthetic
phrases are than separate terms, as in a richer language, since the
source of the meaning is right there with all its original atmosphere.
The Jargon gets a poetic quality from another child-like charac-
teristic—that of onomatopoeia. " . . . m o s t of the words," said Heze-
kiah Butterworth, "resemble in sounds the objects they represent.
For example, a wagon in Chinook is chick-chick, a clock is ding-
ding, a crow is kaw-kaw; a duck, quack-quack; a laugh, tee-hee;
the heart is tum-tum, and a talk or a speech or sermon, wah-wah."
It is not true, of course, that most words are of this nature, but the
list given by Butterworth could be greatly extended from any Chi-
nook Jargon dictionary.
It is a language that "has served as an inter-communicating me-
dium between civilization and the mystery of the savage mind for
more years than most people know." And before that it was serving
as a linguistic clearing house for the savages of many dialects them-
selves. Interest in the Chinook Jargon is indicated by the fact that
there have been more than fifty editions of vocabularies during the
past hundred years.
The statement was made in Oregon Native Son in 1900 that "in
pioneer days there were but few but what understood this language,
and the children frequently could speak it as well as they could
English."
The following examples of literature in the Chinook Jargon have
been selected to represent most of the forms that could be f o u n d -
hymns, sermons, prayers, translations, songs, poetry, dialogues, ha-
rangues, a letter, and the sad death plea of Qualchien. As Myron
Eells noted, "The different ways in which some words are spelled is
a curiosity and simply shows what educated men w i l l do in this line
when they have no standard authority."
C H I N O O K S E R M O N T O T H E I N D I A N S I N 1888
By M Y R O N EELLS
About a fourth of the sermon, consisting of the first four para-

graphs, is given here. The speaker used large pictures to which he
referred in his discourse.
Moxt Sunday ahnkuttie nika memook kumtux mesika kopa okoke

papeh. Yahwa mesika nanitch moxt klootchmen. Klaska chaco kopa
mimaloose-Ulahee, kah Jesus mitlite, kopa Sunday, kopa delate tenas
sun. Spose klaska klap okoke mimaloose-illahee, klaska hah nanitch
Jesus. Jesus get-up; yaka klatawa. Kahkwa nika wawa kopa mesika
talkie Sunday.
Okoke sun nika tikegh wawa kopa mesika kopa okoke papeh.
Kimtah Jesus yaka get-up, yaka mitlite kopa illahee lakit tahtlum
sun. Spose kopet lakit tahtlum sun, Jesus yaka tikegh klatawa kopa
Saghalie. Kahkwa yaka lolo yaka tillikums klahanie kopa town, kopa
okoke illahee kah mesika nanitch klaska. Yahwa mesika nanitch
Jesus. Yahwa yaka tillikums. Jesus yaka tikegh potlatch kloshe wawa
kopa yaka tillikums, elip yaka killapi kopa Saghalie.
Alta nika mamook kumtux mesika kopa Jesus yaka wawa kope
yaka tillikums. Yaka wawa kopa klaska: "Kloshe mesika klatawa
kopa konoway, illahee, konoway kah, pe lolo Bible wawa kopa kono-
way tillikums." Kahkwa Jesus yaka wawa kopa khska.
Jesus yaka kumtux konoway tillikums, konoway kah, hah kumtux
kopa kloshe home kopa Saghalie. Khska hah kumtux kopa. Lejaub
yaka home kopa hias piah. Jesus yaka kumtux ikt man yaka tumtum
dehte hias mahkook; yaka elip hias mahkook kopa konoway dolla
pe konoway iktas kopa konoway illahee. Kahkwa yaka tikegh yaka
tillikums, yaka leplet, klatawa konoway kah, pe help konoway tilli-
kums mash Lejaub yaka owakut, pe Map Jesus yaka owakut.
TRANSLATION
Two Sundays ago I spoke to you concerning that picture. There

you saw two women coming to the sepulchre where Jesus lay, on
Sunday, just at sunrise, Jesus had risen; He was gone. So I told
you in that sermon.
Today I wish to explain to you about this picture. After Jesus
had risen, He continued on the earth forty days. When the forty
days were ended, He desired to ascend to heaven. So he led the
people out of the city to that place where you behold them. Here
you see Jesus. There are those people. Jesus wished to give good
instructions to the people before He returned to heaven.
Now I will explain to you the teaching of Jesus to those people.
He said to them: "It is good that you should go to every country
in all the world, and carry the Gospel to all nations." Thus spoke
Jesus to them.
Jesus was aware that all the nations of the world had no knowl-
edge of the Gospel. They knew nothing of the happy home in heaven.
They knew nothing of the Devil's home in the great fire. Jesus knew
that the soul of a man is truly precious; that it is more precious
than all the money and everything else in the world. So He wished
His people, His missionaries, to go everywhere, and to help all the
people to leave the Devil's way, and to find the way of Jesus.
A BLESSING BEFORE M E A L S
B Y M Y K O N EELLS
O Saghalie Tyee, nesilca Papa, nesika

O God our Father, we
wawa mahsie kopa mika, mika potlach
say thanks to thee, thou hast given
kopa nesika okoke muckamuck. Kloshe spose
to us this food. Good if
mika kwanesum potlach muckamuck kopa
thou always w i l l give food to
nesika. Kloshe spose mika potlatch mika
us. Good if thou will give thy
wawa kopa nesika, kahkwa muckamuck kopa
words to us, as food to the
tumtum. Help nesika tumtum chaco kloshe.
mind. Help our minds become good.
Kopa Jesus nesika tikegh konoway okoke.
Through Jesus we wish all this.
Kloshe kahkwa.
Good so.
T H E T E N COMMANDMENTS
B Y L A U R A B . D O W N E Y BARTLETT
Laura Bell Downey Bartlett, who came across the plains as a

baby in 1853, is author of two books on the Chinook jargon— Chi-
nook-English Songs, published in Portland in 1914, and Dictionary
of the Intertribal Language Commonly Called Chinook, published in
Tacoma in 1924.
1. Nika Sah-ah-lie Tyee kopa mica.

I am the Lord thy God.
Kopit ikt mika kumtux Sah-ah-lie Tyee.
Thou shalt have no other Gods before me.
2. Wake cultus wau-wau, Sah-ah-lie Tyee nem.
Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain.
3. Kloash nanitch kwanisum sacra kopa Sunday.
Remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy.
4. Kloash kumtux mika Papa pee mika Mama.
Honor thy Father and thy Mother.
5. Wake mamook mamaloose klaxta.
Thou shalt not kill.
6. Wake mamook ikta shem kopa mika itlwillie, pee kopa klaxta.
Thou shalt not commit adultery.
7. Wake kapswalla.
Thou shalt not steal.
8. Wake Kleminawhit.
Thou shalt not lie.
9. Wake kumtux, pee wake tikegh ict shem kopa holoima klootch-
man.
Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor's house, his wife or servants.
10. Wake tikegh klaxta mika tikegh ikta.
Thou shalt not covet that which is not thine.
HYMN
B Y D A N I E L L E E A N D J . H . FROST
1. Ak-ah eg-lah-lam en-si-kah
Mi-kah Ish-tam-ah em-e-hol-ew
Kup-et mi-kam toke-ta mi-mah
Mi-kah ek-ah-tlah gum-ohah
Mi-kah dow-ah gum-e oh
Kon-a-wa e-toke-ta ten-mah

Mi-kah an-kut-e gum-toh.
Here we now unite in singing

Glory, Lord, unto thy name,
Only good and worthy praising,
Thou art always, Lord, the same.
Of the sun thou art Creator,
And the light was made by thee,
A l l things good, yea, every creature,
At the first thou madest to be.
2. Mi-kah minch-ah koke en-si-kah

An-kut-e yuk-um-a-lah
Kon-a-wa e-dinch ah-gu-it-quah
Quon-sim po-nan-a-kow
Mi-kah gum-inch-e-lute e-me-han
Yok-ah wa-wot gach-o-weet
Uk-ah en-si-kah quot-lanch-ke-hah
Mi-kam toke-ta can-neo-eeb
We, O Lord, are all thy children,

In the past we wicked were,
We were all most deeply wretched,
Always blind and in despair;
Thou didst thy Son our Savior,
He to us instruction gave.
Knowing this, we now are happy,
Thou are good and thou wilt save.
"WHISKEY"
Tune—"Bounding Billows"
1. Ahnkuttie nika tikegh whiskey,
Pe alta nika mash.
Alta nika mash.
42 C H I N O O K : A HISTORY A N D DICTIONARY
Formerly I loved whiskey,

But now I throw it away—
Now I throw it away.
2. Whiskey hias cultus,

Pe alta nika mash—
Alta nika mash—
Whiskey is good for nothing,
A n d now I throw it away—
Now I throw it away,
3. Whiskey mimoluse tillikums,

Alta nika mash.
Whiskey kills people,
And now I throw it away—
4. Cultus klaska muckamuck,

Alta nika mash.
They that drink it, drink what is worthless,
And now I throw it away—
F R O M " C A N O E A N D SADDLE"
By THEODORE W I N T H H O P
Theodore Winthrop, a 25-year-old Yale graduate, spent the summer

of 1853 in the Pacific Northwest, visiting Puget Sound, Portland, The
Dalles, Oregon City, Salem, Marysville, Yoncalla, Scottsburg and St. Helens.
Returning to New York, he studied law and was admitted to the bar, but
devoted himself almost entirely to literary work, completing the five books
which were published after his death in the Civil War in 1861. The best
known of these is Canoe and Saddle (Nisqually edition, Binfords & Mort,
Publishers) from which the following two selections were taken:
" M E N O L I K E W H I T E M A N NOHOW"
The speaker was a root-digging Klickitat, called Shabbiest, because of
the shabby cast-off Christian coat he wore and little else. "At last . . . he
turned to me, and, raising his arms, one sleeveless, one fringed with rags
at the shoulder, delivered at me a harangue, in the most jerky and broken
Chinook. Given in broken English, its purport was as follows—in a naso-
guttural choke:"
What you white man want get 'em here? Why him no stay
Boston country? Me stay my country; no ask you come here. Too
much soldier man go all around everywhere. Too much make pop-
gun. H i m say kill bird, kill bear—sometime him kill Indian. Soldier
man too much shut eye, open eye at squaw. Squaw no like; s'pose
squaw like, Indian man no like nohow. Me no understand white
man. Plenty good thing him country; plenty blanket; plenty gun;
plenty powder; plenty horse. Indian country plenty nothing. No
good Weenas give you horse. No good Loolowcan go Dalles. Bad
Indians there. Small-pox there. Very much all bad. Me no like
white man no-how. S'pose go away, me like. ...
" O W H H I G H , THE TRADER"

Theodore Winthrop was at the Hudson's Bay Post at Nisqually in need of
a guide through Indian country. It was arranged that the son of the famed
and crafty Indian trader, Owhhigh, be that guide. Winthrop wrote:
Now, however, Owhhigh, dropping in unceremoniously, laid aside his
sham dignity with a purpose. We had before agreed upon the terms of
payment for my guide. The ancient horse-thief sat like a Pacha, smoking
an inglorious dhudeen, and at last, glancing at certain articles of raiment of
mine, thus familiarly, in Chinook, broke silence.
Owhhigh. "Halo she collocks nika tenas; no breeches hath my son."
(the guide)
I. ( i n an Indianesque tone of some surprise, but great indiffer-
ence) "Ah hagh!"
Owhhigh. "Pe halo shirt; and no shirt."
I. (assenting with equal indifference) "Ah hagh!"
Owhhigh smokes, and is silent, and Spokane Adonis fugues in,
"Pe wake yaka shoes; and no shoes hath he."
Another aide-de-camp takes up the strain. "Yahwah mitltte shoes,

clos he copa Owhhigh tenas; there are shoes (pointing to a pair of
mine) good for the son of Owhhigh."
I. "Stick shoes ocock,—wake Closhe copa siwash; hard shoes (not
moccasins) those,--not good for Indian."
Owhhigh. "Hyas tyee mika,—hin mitltte ikta,—halo ikta mitltte
copa nika tenas,—mika tikky him potlatch; great chief thou,—with
thee plenty traps abide,—no traps hath my son,—thou wilt give him
abundance."
I. Pe hyas tyee Owhhigh,—conoway ikta mitlite-pe hin yaka
potlatch copa liticum; and a great chief is Owhhigh,—all kinds of
property are his, and many presents does he make to his people."
Profound silence followed these mutual hints. ... The choir bore
their failure stoically. They had done their best that their comrade
might be arrayed at my expense. . . . At last, to please Owhhigh,
and requite him for the entertainment of his oratory, I promised
that, if his son were faithful, I would give him a generous premium,
possibly the very shirt and other articles they had admired. ...
NESIKA W A - W A
A Chinook Letter from Yoncalla
Here we find the jargon used for business correspondence. What the
letter says will be left for the reader to decipher for himself—it might
furnish an hour of pleasant occupation. It was printed in the Oregon Native
Son in September, 1900, with this explanatory statement: "Several of our
subscribers became somewhat alarmed over the non-appearance of the last
issue of the Native Son at its usual date of delivery, and wrote asking as to
the reason why they did not receive it. Among those enquiring about the
delay was one of our agents. Her message was as follows:"
Yoncalla, Oregon, August 8th, 1900.

Native Son Pub. Co.,
Klose Tenas Man:—Klone moon o'koke mika papah wake chaco
copa conomox o'coke kloochman, Mrs. Susan Smith, pee ole man
C. H. Westernheiser, Yoncalla. Nesika hyas mesahche, copa nesika
spose mika wake copa yaka. Klose mika hyas mamook chaco o'kdke
papah, copa skookum chickamin kuitan, pee klonas mesika kokshut
klose tumtum.
Mike Klose Tilixmm,
Sue Burt, Agent.
L I L L Y D A L E I N CHINOOK
(1852)
This is from the Oregon Native Son for July, 1899. "Lilly Dale," the sad
favorite of the mid-nineteenth century, was written by H. S. Thompson and
contains five stanzas and the chorus. The whole song was rendered into
Jargon, but only the first stanza and the chorus will be given here:
Hyas klose polikely kliminilimin tocope,
Mitlite klose konawa kah;
Pe yacka tillicum mitlite memaluse bed,
Nika kilihium, Lilly Dale.
Chorus:
O Lilly, klose Lilly, hyas klose Lilly Dale,
Alta tipso mitlite kopa kacka tenas memaluse house,
Kekwilla stick pe tipso klose illahee.
'Twas a calm still night and the moon's pale light

Shone soft o'er hill and vale;
When friends mute with grief, stood around the death bed
Of my poor, lost Lilly Dale.
Chorus:
O Lilly, sweet Lilly, dear Lilly Dale,
Now the wild rose blossoms o'er her little green grave
'Neath the trees in the flow'ry vale.
TAMALA, TAMALA
By HEZEKIAH BUTTERWORTH
" I t was sunset on the bluffs and the valleys of the Columbia. ... Among
the craft of the fishermen glided a long airy canoe, with swift paddles. It
contained an old Umatilla Indian, his daughter, and a young warrior. The
party were going to the young chief's funeral. As the canoe glided on amid
the still fishermen of other tribes, the Indian maiden began to sing. It was
a strange song, of immortality, and of spiritual horizons beyond the visible
life. The Umatillas have poetic minds. ... She sang in Chinook, and the
burden of her song was that horizons w i l l lift forever in the unknown
future. The Chinook word tamala means 'tomorrow'; and tomorrow, to the
Indian mind, was eternal life. ... The thought of the song was something
as follows:"
Aha! it is ever tomorrow, tomorrow—

Tamala, tamala, sing as we row;
Lift thine eye to the mount; to the wave give thy sorrow;
The river is bright, and the rivulets flow;
Tamala, tamala,
Ever and ever;
The morrows w i l l come and the morrows w i l l go—
Tamala! Tamala!
Happy boat, it is ever tomorrow, tomorrow—
Tamala, whisper the waves as they flow;
The crags of the sunset the smiles of light borrow,
As soft from the ocean the Chinook winds blow:
Tamala, tamala,
Ever and ever;
The morrows w i l l come and the morrows w i l l go—
Tamala! Tamala!
Aha! the night comes, but the light is tomorrow—
Tamala, tamala, sing as we go;
The waves ripple past, like the heart-beats of sorrow,
And the boat beats the wave to our song as we row;
Tamala, tamala,
Ever and ever;
The morrows will come and the morrows will go—
Tamala! Tamala!
For ever and ever horizons are lifting—
Tamala, tamala, sing as we row;
And life toward the stars of the ocean is drifting,
Through death w i l l the morrow all endlessly glow—
AS A LlTERARY LANGUAGE 47
Tamala! tamala!
Ever and ever;
The morrows will come and the morrows will go,
Tamala! Tamala!
DEATH PLEA OF CHIEF QUALCHIEN
This pathetic and futile plea is given in B. F. Manring's Conquest of

the Coeur d' Alenes, Spokanes and Palouses. Qualchien was a chief of the
Yakimas. He rode voluntarily into the camp of Colonel George Wright. He
was decked out in scarlet and at his belt hung an ornamented tomahawk
and pistol. W i t h him was his squaw, daughter of the Spokane chief, strik-
ing in her beauty and richly attired. He was accompanied by a brave and
followed by a hunchback. He presented in general a dashing air. Then
came the swift and abject change. He was made captive and sentenced to
be hanged, and within fifteen minutes of his appearance in camp he was
dead. He was completely overcome by the unexpected and sudden sentence.
He prostrated himself upon the ground and then struggled as he was
dragged forward, all the while "imploring them most piteously not to hang
him. To General Lyon in later years, is attributed the declaration that no
more mournful sounds were ever heard than those made by Qualchien in
begging for his life. Over and over he repeated:"
Kopet, sikhs! Kopet, sikhs! Wake memaloose nika! Nika potlatch

hiyu chikamin, hiyu kuitan, spose mika wake memaloose nika! Hiyu
siwash solleks!
Stop, friends! Stop, friends! Don't kill me! I will give you a
lot of money and many horses i f you will not kill me! Many Indians
w i l l be angry!
T H E LORD'S PRAYER
The following version of the Lord's Prayer shows the lack of adaptation of
the Jargon to any but the simplest use, yet it also has a pathos in its rudeness
and poverty. How incomplete, even in our English, is the idea we get from
the words, "Thy kingdom come!" This version of the "Lord's Prayer" is nearly
the same as that prepared by a priest for McCormick's Chinook Dictionary
(1852).
Nesika Papa klaksta mitlite kopa Saghalie, kloshe kopa
Our Father who dwellest in the above, sacred in
nesika tumtum mika nem. Nesika hiyu ticky
our hearts (be) Thy name. We greatly long for
chako mika illahee. Mamook mika kloshe tumtum
the coming of Thy kingdom. Do Thy good will
kopa okoke illahee, kahkwa kopa Saghalie. Potlatch
with this world, as also in the heavens. Give (us)
konaway sun nesika muckamuck, pe mahlie
day by day our bread, and remember not
konaway nesika mesachie, kahkwa nesika mamook
all our wickedness, even as we do also
kopa klaska spose mamook mesachie kopa nesika.
with others if they do evil unto ourselves.
Wake lolo nesika kopa peshak, pe mahsh siah
Not bring us into danger, but put far away
kopa nesika konoway mesachie.
from us all evil.
Kloshe kahkwa.
So may it be.
15. CONVERSATIONAL PHRASES

The brief examples here, together with the phrases following words in the
Chinook-English vocabulary, illustrate the use of the Jargon as completely as
possible in limited space and with such a condensed idiom. The absence of
the minor parts of speech and inflected forms makes the combination of
words in sentences either circuitous or bluntly direct.
English Chinook
Good morning. Klahowya.
Good evening.
Good day.
Good-by.
How do you do?
Good morning, friend. Klahowya, sikhs.
Come here. Chako yukwa.
How are you? Kahta mika?
Are you sick? Sick na mika?
Are you hungry? Olo na mika?
Are you thirsty? Olo na chuck mika?
How did you come? Kahta mika chako?
What's the matter? Ikta mamook?
As A L I T E R A R Y L A N G U A G E 49
English Chinook
Would you like something to eat? Mika ticky muckamuck?
Do you want work? Mika ticky mamook?
What do you want to do? Ikta mika mamook?
Cut some wood. Mamook stick.
Certainly. Nowitka.
How much do you want for cutting Kunsih dolla spose mika mamook
that lot of wood? konaway okoke stick?
One dollar. Ikt dolla.
That is too much. I will give half a Hyas mahkook. Nika potlatch sitkum
dollar. dolla.
No! Give three quarters. Wake! Potlatch klone kwata.
Very well; get to work. Kloshe kahkwa; mamook alta.
Where is the ax? Kah lahash?
There it is. Yahwa.
Cut it small for the stove. Mamook tenas, spose chikamin piah.
Give me a saw. Potlatch lasee.
I have no saw; use the ax. Nika halo lasee; iskum lahash.
All right. Nowitka.
Bring it inside. Lolo yaka kopa house.
Where shall I put it? Kah nika mahsh okoke?
There. Yahwa.
Here is something to eat. Yukwa mitlite mika muckamuck.
Here is some bread. Yahkwa mitlite piah sapolil.
Now bring some water. Alta klatawa iskum chuck.
Where shall I get it? Kah nika iskum?
In the river there. Kopa cooley chuck yahwa.
Make a fire. Mamook piah.
Boil the water. Mamook liplip chuck.
Cook the meat. Mamook piah okoke itlwillie.
Wash the dishes. Mamook wash okoke leplah.
In what? Kopa kahta?
In that pan. Kopa okoke ketling.
Come again tomorrow. Chako weght tomolla.
Come here, friend. Chako yukwa, sikhs.
What do you want? Ikta mika ticky?
I want you to do a little job in the Nika ticky mika mamook tenas ma-
morning. mook tenas sun.
Come very early. Chako elip sun.
Come here at six o'clock. Chako yukwa taghum tintin.
Oh! here you are! Alah! Mika chako!
What do you want me to do? Ikta mika ticky nika mamook?
Carry this box to the steamer. Lolo okoke lacaset kopa piah ship.
Take this bag, also. Lolo weght lesac.
What will you pay? Ikta mika potlatch dolla?
A quarter. Ikt kwata.
English Chinook
Very well; and something to eat? Kloshe kahkwa; pe tenas mucka-
muck?
It is pretty heavy. Hyas till okoke.
Is that man your brother? Yaka na mika kaupho okoke man?
Can't he help you carry the box? Na yaka mamook elan mika lolo
lecaset?
I w i l l give him something, too. Nika potlatch weght tenas yaka.
Can you carry it? Na, skookum kopa mika lolo okoke?
Is it very heavy? Hyas till okoke?
Oh, no! We shall do it. Wake! Nesika mamook.
Are you tired? Mika chako till?
How far is it, this ship? Kunsih siah, okoke ship?
Not much farther. Wake siah alta.
That is all. Kopet.
Do you understand English? Kumtux mika Boston wawa?
No, not very much. Wake hiyu.
W i l l you sell that fish? Mika ticky mahsh okoke pish?
Which of them? Klaksta?
That large one. Okoke hyas.
What is the price of it? Kunsih chikamin ticky?
I ' l l give you two bits. Nika potlatch mokst bit.
I ' l l give you half a dollar. Nika potlatch sitkum dolla.
No, that is not enough. Wake, okoke wake hiyu.
Where did you catch that trout? Kah mika iskum okoke tzum sam-
mon?
In Skamokaway river. Kopa Skamokaway cooley chuck.
Are there many fish there? Na hiyu pish yahwa?
Not many; too much logging. Wake; mamook alta hiyu stick.
Well, I won't buy it today. Abba, nika wake ticky mahkook
okoke sun.
What do you think of this country? Ikta mika tumtum okoke illahee?
It is very pleasant when it does not Hyas kloshe hyas spose wake snass.
rain.
Not always; it is worse when it snows Wake kwonesum. Chako kimtah klo-
and freezes she spose cole snass pe shelipo.
How long have you lived here? (how Kunsih cole mitlite yahkwa mika?
many years)
Many years; I forget how many. Hiyu cole; kopet kumtux kunsih.
I was born at Skipanon. Chee tenas nika kopa Skipanon.
D i d you get your wife here? Na mika iskum mika klootchman
yaka?
No; she is a Tillamook woman. I Wake; Tillamook klootchman. Nika
married her at Nehalem. mallie yaka kopa Nehalem.
How many children have you? Kunsih tenas mika?
English Chinook
We have three boys and one little Nesika klone tenas man nesika pe
girl. ikt tenas klootchman.
I will send you some things for them Nika mahsh mika iktas kopa kaska
when I get home. kimta ko nika illahee.
CHARLES C U L T E E (Kwelte)
Last known survivor of the ancient Chinook stock
It was Cultee who gave Dr. Franz Boas the material for his Chinook
Texts, published by the Smithsonian Institution, Bureau of Ethnology,
in 1894. Material was gathered by Dr. Boas in the summers of 1890
and 1891. They communicated with each other entirely in the Chinook
Jargon. Note Cultee's flattened head.
Part Two: A DICTIONARY
G R A M M A R O F T H E JARGON
IT M A Y NOT, AT FIRST, BE EASY TO UNDERSTAND

how a language composed of so few words could have been used so
widely as the sole medium of communication among many thou-
sands of individuals. However, a thorough knowledge of a few
dozen basic words of the Jargon will give one sufficient material
with which, after a little practice, to carry on actual conversations.
The unique faculty of the Jargon for combining and compounding
simple words and sounds makes it capable of almost unlimited ex-
pression.
Just as a child builds houses from blocks, so does the speaker of
the Jargon build sentences by skillful combining of words and
sounds. To a great extent, effective communication through the
Jargon depends upon the ingenuity and imagination of the speaker.
There are no hard and fast rules for the spelling of words in the
Chinook Jargon, and everyone, in writing Chinook, follows the dic-
tates of his own judgment in the fabrication of phonetic equivalents,
which are at best only approximations. The Chinook Jargon is
essentially a spoken and not a written tongue . . . it is very much
alive!
The Chinook Jargon is absolutely inflexible. It never changes its
form for mood, tense, or anything else. The same form is used gen-
erally for both singular and plural, though occasionally an "s" is
added to indicate the plural.
The idea of time is conveyed by adding a word to indicate it.
Thus, past, present and future are usually indicated by these three
words: ahnkuttie, alta, and alta. Ordinarily, if the time is omitted or
not specified, it is understood to be present time. For example:
53
"Nika kumtux ahnkuttie"—I understood, I understood some

time ago.
"Nika kumtux alta"—I understand now (or just "nika kumtux"
—I understand).
"Nika kumtux alki— I will understand, I w i l l understand by
and by, I w i l l understand after while.
Intensity of meaning or duration of time may also be indicated by
prolongation of die sounding of the word, thus: Laly (time) would
be pronounced la-a-a-aly to suggest a long time. This is based upon
an instinctive principle common to all tongues, just as we in English
phonetically indicate prolongation of time or extension in space or
intensity of feeling by means of prolonging "a long time" into "a
lo-o-o-o-ng time." The days of the week and the number of weeks,
months and years are also used to designate tenses. For example:
"Tahtlum sun ahnkuttie"—ten days (suns) ago.
The comparative degree of adjectives is usually formed by prefix-
ing the word elip (first or foremost) to the adjective:
"Kloshe"—good (positive degree).
"Elip kloshe"—better (comparative degree).
The superlative degree is properly formed by adding the words
"kopa konaway" (the total, the whole):
"Elip kloshe kopa konaway"—better than all ... and better
than all, of course, is the best.
Building up a superlative carries us a long way around, but we
finally arrive. There is no such thing, as stated earlier, as compari-
son by inflection . . . but there is still another way to convey the
superlative. Adding "delate" (straight, direct) to the comparative
gives us the superlative also, because delate itself is superlative:
"Kloshe"— good.
"Elip kloshe"—better.
"Delate elip Hoshe"— best; literally, the very better.
In building a superlative, going from good to less good and least
good, you would use the word, kimtah (last, afterward):
"Kloshe"— good.
"Kimtah kloshe"— not so good, worse.
G R A M M A R OF T H E JARGON 55
"Delate kimtah kloshe"— very worse or worst.

The personal pronouns become possessive by prefixing them to
nouns, like "nika nem," my name; "mika kuitan," your horse; "nesika
illahee," our land.
Sometimes "s" is added to the personal pronouns in the possessive
case; thus, nikas, mine; mikas, yours; nesikas, ours; mesikas, yours;
yakas, his or hers; klaskas, theirs. Eells says this mode is used only
when the pronoun is the last word in the sentence, thus: "Okoke
kuitan nesikas," that horse is ours.
"Nika nanitch yaka"— I see him.
"Yaka kokshut nika"— he hit me.
"Nika klootchman"— my wife or woman.
"Nika tenas man"—my son, little man, boy, or if used by a
young woman, may mean my sweetheart.
"Nika tenas klootchman"—my little woman, daughter, girl,
sweetheart.
"Nika tumtum"—I think; my thought, guess or opinion.
"Nika tumtum kahkwa"— I agree, I think so, I think like that,
I approve.
Among the interrogatives are "Ikta," what? What's up now? etc.
"Kah"—where? whence? whither?
"Kahta"—how? why?
"Kunsih"— how many? how much?
"Klaksta"— who?
"Na" is a general interrogation, and used in many different
forms of question.
Numerals are given in their alphabetical order in this dictionary,
but we will give them here again i n their numerical order and illus-
trate the manner in which they are used:
"Ikt" —one. "Sinamokst"— seven.
"Mokst"— two. "Stotekin"— eight.
"Klone" —three. "Kwaist"— nine.
"Lakit"— four. "Tahdum"— ten.
"Kwinnum"— five. "Tukamonuk"— one hundred.
"Taghum"— six.
The Jargon words for eight and nine are but little used, being
replaced by the English words or used in combination as: "kwinnum
pe klone," five and three for eight, and "kwinnum pe lakit," five
and four for nine. Thousands is either represented by the combina-
tion "tahtlum tukamonuk," ten hundred, or the English word thou-
sand.
The regularly used combinations of the numerals are quite sim-
ple. "Tahtlum pe ikt," eleven, is ten and one; "mokst tahtlum pe
kwinnum," twenty-five is literally two tens and five. "Taghum taht-
lum" is six tens. "Klone tukamonuk" is three hundred. The year 1926
would be expressed as follows: "Tahtlum tukamonuk (one thou-
sand), kwaist tukamonuk (nine hundred), pe mokst tahtlum pe
taghum (and two tens and six)."
The origins of words in the following Chinook-English vocabulary
are indicated as follows: Chinook (C); Chehalis (Ch); Clackamas
( C I ) ; Calapooia (Cal); Clallam (Clal); BellabeUa (BB); Nootka
( N ) ; Klickitat ( K ) ; Wasco ( W ) ; general Salishan tongues (S); Eng-
lish (E); and Canadian-French ( F ) . Invented words and words of
doubtful origin which have been incorporated into the Chinook
Jargon are marked (J).
Pronunciation is shown as follows: Accented syllables are indi-
cated by an accent mark ( ' ). This is not invariable in all words,
but is occasionally movable. For example, sapolil (bread) is gener-
ally accented on the first syllable but occasionally on the last. A
general discussion of pronunciation and spelling can be found in
Chapter 13, Part One, "Spelling and Pronunciation of Chinook."
CHINOOK-ENGLISH
A
AB'-BA (J): Well, very well.
ACK ( J ) : Nephew.
A D - D E - D A H ' (S): Exclamation of pain, sorrow, surprise.
AH'-HA ( C ) : Yes.
AHN'-KUT-TIE or ahnkutte ( C ) : Formerly, in the past, before now, long
ago, anciently, ago. ( W i t h the accent prolonged on the first syllable, a very
long time ago; ancient. The longer the first syllable is held, the longer the
time expressed.)
"Hyas ahnkuttie"— very long time ago (literally, much long ago).
"Tenas ahnkuttie"— little while ago.
"Kunsih laly ahnkuttie?"— how long ago?
"Siah ahnkuttie"— very ancient; literally, far ago.
"Ahnkuttie mama"— grandmother.
"Ahnkuttie papa"— grandfather, ancestor, forefather, progenitor.
"Ahnkuttie tillikums"— ancestors, ancient people.
"Ahnkuttie tillikums yiem wawa"— traditions; literally, tales spoken by
the ancient people.
"Ahnkuttie laly"— long ago.
A'-KIK or more commonly ik'kik (J): A fishhook.
A L - A H ' ( J ) : Expression of surprise.
"Alah, mika chako!"— Oh, here you are!
A L ' K I ( C ) : In the future, by and by, after a while, soon, presently, directly,
in a little while, hold on, not so fast. (This is the sign of the future tense,
shall or will. The days of the week, and the number of weeks, months and
years are also used to designate tenses.)
"Nika kumtux alki"— I w i l l understand, I will understand by and by.
"Tenas alki"— in a little while.
"Alki nika klatawa"— I w i l l go presently.
"Iskum dolla, alki pay"— to borrow (get money, pay later).
" A l k i nesika klatawa kopa nika boat"— soon we w i l l go in my boat.
AL-LE-KA-CHEEK' ( J ) : Small shell money. This is the small shell also
worn as an ornament for the ear (see coop-coop, hykwa.)
A L ' - T A or al-tah ( C ) : Now, at the present time.
"Alta yaka chako"— now he comes.
"Nika skookum alta"— I am strong now.
"Waka alta"— not now.
57
A-MO'-TEH ( C ) : Strawberry (plant or fruit). Occasionally corrupted into
almota.
A N - A H ! ( J ) : ah! oh! fie!— an exclamation of pain or displeasure.
"Anah, nowitka, mika halo shem!"— Ah, indeed, are you not ashamed!
A N - D I - A L H ' ( J ) : A wasp.
A-SHUK' (C): Snow. See snass (cole).
A T - I - M I N ' ( J ) : Dead (see memaloose).
ATS (J): A sister, younger than the person speaking of her.
"Elip ats"— older sister. (See kahpho).
"Ats yaka man"— brother-in-law.
"Mama yaka ats"— aunt.
B
BE'-BE ( F ) : A kiss, to kiss or fondle.
BED ( E ) : A bed.
B I T ( E ) : A dime or shilling.
BLOOM ( E ) : A broom.
"Mamook bloom"— to sweep.
BOAT ( E ) : A boat, as distinguished from a canoe; skiff.
"Kopa boat"— aboard.
"Klahanie kopa boat"— overboard.
BOOK ( E ) : A book; volume, pocket-book.
"Tenas book"— a pamphlet.
"Book, yaka mamook kumtux nesika kopa illahee"— a geography.
"Book yaka mamook kumtux nesika kopa lalang"— a grammar.
"Book yaka mamook kumtux nesika kopa nesika"— a physiology.
"Book yaka mamook kumtux nesika kopa stone"— a geology.
"Saghalie Tyee yaka book"— a bible (literally, — God, his book).
BOS'-TON ( E ) : An American, American. (A name derived from the hailing
place of the first trading ships to the Pacific.)
"Boston plie"— protestantism.
"Sitkum-siwash-sitkum-Boston"—a half-breed, (half Indian, half Ameri-
can.)
"Boston Illahee"— the United States.
"Mika kumtux Boston wawa?"— do you understand English?
BUR-DASH ( F ) : A hermaphrodite.
BY-BY ( E ) : By-and-by, after a while, sometime hence. ( I t means a longer
time in the future than alki, but like that word is used for shall or w i l l as
a sign of future time. W i t h the accent on the first syllable prolonged, it
means a very long time hence.)
c
CAL'-I-PEEN ( F ) : A rifle, carbine.
CAM'-AS or kamass, lakamas, camass ( N ) : An edible bulb, a species of hya-
cinth, which was and still is a principal food of the Indians. It is eaten
CHINOOK-ENGLISH 59
raw, and is also beaten into a pulp, dried in cakes and eaten in lieu of
bread. It is abundant from the Coast Range to the Bitter Root Mountains
and was found in abundance in Indian days on the Columbia River flats.
It was sometimes called the Siwash onion. The flower is blue, the plant
and blossom resembling a hyacinth. In his Nootka Sound Journal (1803-5),
John Rodgers Jewitt gives chamass for fruit, also for sweet. However, the
preferred spelling has come to be camas.
C A - N I M ' ( C ) : A canoe.
"Canim stick"— the cedar or wood from which canoes are usually made.
"Klatawa kopa canim"— to embark, to go in a canoe.
CAP'-A-LA (J): The cheeks.
CA'-PO' ( F ) : A coat.
CHAK'-CHAK ( C ) : The bald eagle.
CHA'-KO or chah'-ko, chahco ( N ) : To come, to approach, to be or become.
( I n the latter sense it forms the passive voice in connection with many other
words. Often it is joined with adjectives and nouns, and forms other verbs.)
"Nika chako keekwulee"— I am degraded.
"Yaka chako stone"— it is petrified.
"Yaka chako pahtlum"— he is drunk.
Occasionally the passive voice is shown by placing the word iskum before
the main word:
"Yaka iskum kow"— he is arrested.
"Nika chako kopa Poteland"— I come from Portland.
"Kloshe mika hyak chako"— good you come quick.
"Chuck chako"— the tide is rising (literally, is coming).
"Chuck chako pe klatawa"— the tides.
"Halo chako"— to linger.
"Wake kunsih yaka chako halo"— indelible, (literally, never w i l l be
gone).
"Chako Boston"— to become an American (often said of Indians who
are becoming civilized like white people).
"Chako delate till"— to become exhausted.
"Chako elip hiyu"— to exceed.
"Chako halo"— to be destroyed, to disappear, to vanish, to be all gone.
"Chako huloima"— to vary, to become different.
"Chako hyas tumtum"— to become proud.
"Chako kah nika nanitch"— to appear.
"Chako kloshe"— to get well, to become good.
"Chako kloshe tum-tum"— to love, to reform, to become friendly, to get
a good heart.
"Chako kunamokst"— to congregate, assemble, convene, meet, unite,
join.
"Chako kunamokst nika"— come with me.
"Chako memaloose"— to die, to become rotten, to become decayed (as
potatoes or vegetables).
"Chako pahtlum"— to become drunk.
"Chako polaklie"—to become dark, night is coming.

"Chako skookum"—to become strong, especially after a sickness, to
show complete recovery.
"Chako solleks"— to become angry, to quarrel.
"Chako pelton"— to become foolish, to be cheated.
"Chako tenas"— to decrease.
"Chako waum rumtum"— to be earnest, to become excited; literally,
come warm heart.
"Chako yotl tumtum"— to become glad, to be glad.
CHEE ( C ) : Lately, just now, new, fresh, original, recent.
"Chee nika ko"— I have just arrived.
"Hyas chee"— entirely new, very new.
"Chee chako"— a newcomer, just arrived.
"Delate chee"— entirely new.
"Klootchman yaka chee mallie"— a bride.
CHEE'-CHEE ( C ) : A small bird.
CHESP (J): The neck, (seele-coo).
C H E T - L O (S): An oyster, oysters.
CHET'-WOOT ( S ) : A black bear.
CHIK'-A-MIN ( N ) : Iron, metal, metallic, steel, money, cash, mineral.
"T'kope chikamin"— silver (white metal).
"Pil chikamin"— gold or copper (yellow metal).
"Chikamin lope"— wire, a chain.
"Nika hyas ticky chikamin"— I very much wish money.
"Illahee kah chikamin mitlite"— mines.
"Chikamin piah"— stove.
CHIK'-CHIK or tsik-tsik or tchik-tchik ( J ) : A wagon, cart, wheel, any
wheeled vehicle.
"Chik-chik wayhut"— a wagonroad.
"Nika chako kopa chikchik"— I come in a wagon.
"Piah chikchik"— railroad cars.
"Lolo kopa chikchik"— to haul in a wagon.
C H I L ' - C H I L or tsil-tsil ( C ) : Buttons, the stars.
CHI-NOOK': A Chinook Indian or the Jargon. The word probably originates
from the Chehalis word Tsinuk, their name for the Chinook tribe.
"Chinook canim"— large canoe.
"Chinook illahee"— the land of the Chinook Indians.
"Chinook tillikums"— the Chinook Indians or people.
"Chinook wawa"— the Chinook language. "Mika kumtux Chinook
wawa?"~ Do you understand the Chinook language?
"Chinook sammon (salmon)"—the quinnat salmon.
"Chinook wind"—a warm, moist, southwest wind of the coastal states
of Oregon and Washington, originally so-called by the white settlers
at Astoria because it came from the direction of the Chinook camp.
CHITSH (S): A grandmother.
CHOPE (S): A grandfather, (see chitsh).
CHINOOK-ENGLISH 61
CHO'-TUB (S): A flea.

CHUCK ( N ) : Water, a river, or stream. Salt chuck —the sea, Skookum
chuck—a powerful or rapid stream, Solleks chuck — a rough sea, Chuck
chako (killapi) —the tide comes, rises and falls, Saghalie (keekwullee)
chuck —high (low) tide.
"Kah mitlite chuck?"— where is the water?
"Muckamuck chuck"— to drink water. "Olo kopa chuck"— thirsty.
"Hyas chuck"— deluge.
"Chuck lapome"— cider.
CHUK'-KIN (S): To kick.
CLY or kely (E): To cry, lament, moan, mourning, weeping (either noun
or verb).
"Cly tumtum"— to cry in the heart, to feel sorry, to repent, to mourn, to
be full of grief or emotion (deeper in feeling than sick tumtum).
COLE ( E ) : Cold; also a year.
"Hyas cole"— very cold, freezing.
"Cole illahee"— winter, the place or abiding place of cold.
"Cole snass"— hail or snow, frozen rain.
"Cole chuck"— ice; also very cold water, ice water.
"Cole sick"— a cold, ague.
"Cole sick waum sick"— fever and chills, or in the other order, chills
and fever.
"Ikt cole"— a year, one winter.
"Tahtlum cole"— ten years or winters.
"Ikt tukamonuk cole"— a hundred winters or years, a century.
"Kah cole chako"— the north; where the cold comes from.
"Kah delate cole mitlite"— the place where the coldest cold abides, the
Arctic.
CO'-LEE-CO'-LEE ( J ) : A rat.
COMB ( E ) : A comb.
"Mamook comb illahee"— to harrow.
COOLEY ( F ) : To run, go about, play, walk, travel.
"Cooley kuitan"— a race horse.
"Yahka hyas kumtux cooley"— he knows very well how to run; he can
run.
"Cultus cooley"— to saunter, to wander about aimlessly, ramble or stroll.
"Hyak cooley"— to run rapidly or go fast.
"Kopet cooley"— to stop, halt, cease moving.
"Cooley chuck"— river.
(Also signifies a narrow valley, usually dry, through which spring floods
run during the melting of the snow. Probably from the French word
courir, to run.)
COOP-COOP ( C ) : Small dentalium, or shell money (see hykwa).
CO'-SHO ( F ) : A pig, pork, ham, bacon.
"Klootchman cosho"—a sow (a pig's woman, to be literal).
"Siwash cosho"— a seal (literally, Indian pig).
"Tenas cosho"— a suckhng or small pig.

"Cosho glease"— lard.
"Cosho itlwillie"— hog meat, pork. (From the French, cochon, of the
same meaning).
CUL'-TUS or kultus ( C ) : Worthless, good for nothing, without purpose,
bad, dissolute, filthy, foul, useless, worn out, damaged beyond repair, and
also a degree of worthlessness which cannot be expressed in ordinary
English. A cultus siwash is the last word in no-accountness. (A few words
are very expressive, meaning so much and expressing that meaning in so
much better way than our English words do that they have often been
adopted into the English in regions where the Chinook Jargon is used.
Cultus is among these words.)
"Cultus man"— a worthless fellow.
"Cultus potlatch"— a present or free gift.
"Cultus he-he"— a joke or jest.
"Cultus nanitch"— to look idly about.
"Cultus mitlite"— to sit idly, or stay where you are, doing nothing.
"Cultus kopa mika"— none of your business.
"Cultus kopa nika"— makes no difference to me; I do not care.
"Delate cultus"— absolute worthlessness, of no manner of use whatever.
D
DA'GO (J): Gnats, "No-see'-ums." (This might have derived from the
Indian pronunciation of "they go.")
DE-AUB' (F): The devil, Satan, a demon.
"Deaub yaka illahee"—hell; literally, the devil, his place.
"Spose mika mamook mesachie, deaub iskum mika"— if you do wrong
the devil will get you.
D E - L A T E ' or daite ( E ) : Straight, direct, true, truly, exact, definite, defi-
nitely, sincere, sincerely, sure, authentic, accurate, very, correctly. (Ac-
cording to James Gilchrist Swan (1857), this word is a corruption of the
English word, straight—which seems more likely than the derivation from
the French, droite — cited by other authorities.)
"Klatawa delate"— to go straight ahead, the way you are going.
"Delate wawa"— the truth, true talk, a promise, tell the truth, a fact.
"Delate kwinnum cole ahnkuttie"— exactly five years ago.
"Okoke delate"— that is right or it is correct.
"Wake delate"— not right, imperfect.
"Delate nika sick tumtum"— I am very sorry; literally, very I sorry.
"Wawa delate (reversing the phrase delate wawa)"—to speak the truth
or speak correctly.
"Delate hyas"— very big indeed, enormous, immense.
"Delate kloshe"— very good.
"Delate hyas kloshe"— very, very good; literally, a big or superlative
very good; also an equivalent of majestic, magnificent, awe-inspiring.
"Delate kumtux"— to know for a certainty, sure, to prove.
CHINOOK-ENGLISH 63
"Delate pahtl"— full to the brim, chockfull.

"Delate sick tumtum"— very sad, very sorry, grief, sad at heart.
"Delate tenas sun"— dawn, the very beginning of the morning, day-
break.
"Delate yaka illahee"— a native of the country; literally, his very home.
"Delate yaka kumtux"— an expert; literally, perfectly he knows.
"Delate nika wawa"— I am speaking the truth; literally, truth I say.
"Delate tenas"— just a little.
D'LY ( E ) : Dry, dryness, arid, without water. (An Indian attempt to pro-
nounce the English word dry.)
"Chako d'ly"— to become dry.
"Mamook d'ly"— to dry up, to make dry.
"D'ly tupso"— hay; literally, dry grass.
D O C - T I N ( E ) : Doctor, physician, surgeon, healer. The word as used re-
ferred to a white doctor. If an Indian doctor was meant the term became
Siwash doctin.
"Nika ticky doctin"— I want the doctor.
"Dockin kopa letah"— doctor of the teeth.
"Doctin kopa seeowist or seahost"— doctor of the eyes or face.
D O L L A ( E ) : A dollar, money. ( A n Indian attempt to use the English word
dollar; sometimes pronounced tollah).
"Chickamin dolla"— a silver dollar.
"Pil dolla"— gold coin. (Pil refers to the color. Pil chickamin is copper
money or coins.)
"Sitkum dolla"— half a dollar.
"Ikt dolla"— one dollar.
"Tahtlum dolla"— ten dollars.
"Dolla seeowist"— spectacles (eyes one pays for).
D U T C H M A N : Any white man other than an American, a Frenchman or an
Englishman.
E
EE'-NA ( C ) : A beaver.
"Eena stick"— willow (beaverwood).
EK-KAH'-NAM (C): A tale or story.
EK'-KEH ( C ) : A brother-in-law.
E K - K O - L I ( C ) : A whale.
E-KONE' (J): The Good Spirit.
EK-SKAUN ( C ) : Wood, wooden.
E-KU'-TOCH (J): The Bad Spirit.
E-LA-HAN, or E-lan (S): Aid, assistance, alms.
"Mamook elan"— to help, to give alms or assistance.
E-LAK'-HA (J): The sea otter.
E'-LIP (S): First, before, beginning, ahead, prior, senior, elder, original.
(For the use of elip in the formation of the positive, comparative and
superlative degrees of adjectives, see the introduction to this section of the
book.)
E-LI'-TEE ( J ) : A slave.
E-MEEK' ( J ) : The back.
E-MEETS' ( J ) : The nose.
E - M I ' - H ( J ) : The breast, the chest.
E-MIN'-TE-PU ( J ) : The muskrat.
EN'-A-TI ( C ) : Across, beyond, opposite to, on the other side of.
"Nika ticky klatawa enati kopa chuck"— I want to go across the water.
"Yaka mitlite enati kopa city"— he lives opposite to the city; or literally,
across from the city.
E-QUAN'-NAT ( C ) : Salmon. This word is the original of Quinnat, a
specific name for the Chinook or king salmon, (see Sammon).
E-SALT'-H or ye-salt'-h ( W ) : Indian corn, maize.
ES'-SAL ( C ) : To come.
E-TAM'-A-NA (S): A prophet.
ETH'-LAN or it-lan ( C ) : A fathom.
E ' - T I N - W I L L (S): The ribs.
ET'-SHUM ( C ) : The heart.
ET-SIT-SA (S): Sick.
G
GET-UP' or ket-op' ( E ) : To get up, rise, risen. ( I t is difficult for Indians
to get exact English sounds, so they often pronounce this word as if it were
spelled ket-op.)
GLEASE ( E ) : Grease. This was another attempt to pronounce English.
Indians converted the r into 1, and grease became glease.
"Hiyu glease"— very fat.
"Tatoosh glease"—butter. (Tatoosh means breasts, milk, udder.)
"Glease mitlite kopa bone"— marrow.
"Glease piah"— a candle.
GOOM or la-goom ( F ) : Pitch; resin.
GOOM STICK: Pine, fir or spruce.
H
H A H ' - L A K L ( C ) : Wide, open.
"Mamook hahlakl la pote"— open the door.
"Chako hahlakl"— expression used when applied to thin spaces in the
forest. It could be translated literally as "coming open."
"Mamook hahlakl"— to open or to make open.
H A H T - H A H T ( S ) : The mallard duck.
HAK'-AT-SHUM ( E ) : Handkerchief ( A n Indian imitation of the English
word handkerchief).
HA-LET' (S): To tremble.
CHINOOK-ENGLISH 65
H A L O ( J ) : No, none, without, all gone, not. (see wake)

"Halo chickamin nika"— I have no money.
"Halo pish chako"— no fish come.
"Halo glease"— without fat, lean.
"Halo iktas"—no goods, destitute.
"Yaka wind halo chako"— literally, his breath does not come; dead.
HAS'-LITCH (J): Liver.
H A U L ( E ) : Haul, to pull or draw.
"Mamook haul"— must haul.
HE-HE (C):Laugh, laughter, mirth, fun, to laugh, glee, sport, a game, ridi-
cule. He-he may be used as noun, verb, or adjective.
"Cultus hehe"— a joke.
"Mamook hehe"— to laugh.
"Wake hehe"— serious, not to laugh.
"Kloshe hehe"— a good game.
"Hehe house"— an amusement place, a dance house, a play house.
"Hehe tumtum"— a jolly spirit, good natured.
HELP ( E ) : Help, aid, assist, assistance. (This may be used as noun or
verb. Used as a verb it is usually preceded by mamook and sometimes by
potlatch — makes help in the one case; gives help in the other.)
H I - Y U ' ( N ) : Much, plenty, abundance. (Used with reference to quantity
and numbers rather than size or degree.)
"Hiyu tillikum"— a crowd.
"Hiyu muckamuck"— plenty of food.
"Tenas hiyu"— a small number.
"Wake hiyu"— not many, very few.
"Kopet hiyu"— enough.
"Hiyu wawa"— much talk, a clamor.
" H i y u tillikums kopa house"— an audience; many people in house.
H O H - H O H ( J ) : To cough.
H O - K U - M E L H (S): To gather; glean.
HOOL-HOOL ( C ) : Mouse.
HOUSE ( E ) : House.
"Siwash house"— Indian house.
"Mahkook house"— a store or trading house, a shop.
"Skookum house"— a jail, literally a strong house.
"Muckamuck house"— hotel, restaurant or any eating place.
HOW ( J ) : Listen; attend.
H O W H ( J ) : Turn to, or get to work briskly, hurry.
H O W - K W U T L ( J ) : Expresses inability. How could? Cannot.
"How-kwutl klap yahka?"— how could I find her?
H U L - L E L ' ( C ) : To shake or tremble. (Used with the verb mamook, it
becomes active. Mamook hullel means to make shake or tremble.)
HUL-O'-I-MA ( C ) : Other, another, different, difference, averse, diverse,
foreign, odd, strange, queer, unusual, separate.
"Huloima tillikum"—a different tribe of people.
"Klatawa kopa huloima illahee"— to go to another place or country or

abiding place, to emigrate.
"Huloima mamook"— miracle.
"Hyas huloima"— a big difference.
"Huloima tumtum"— to dissent or disagree, a difference of opinion.
"Huloima wawa"— a different language, a foreign tongue; also to mis-
pronounce or say the word wrong.
H U M M (J): To smell, stink; stench, an odor; putrid.
"Humm opoots"— stinking tail, hence used to denote skunk.
"Yaka humm"— it smells.
"Hyas humm"— a very bad smell.
"Mamook humm"— to smell.
"Kloshe humm"— a pleasant smell.
"Humm itlwillie"— carrion.
H U N L ' - K I H (C): Curled, curly, crooked, knotted.
HUY-HUY (J): A bargain or exchange, to barter or trade. This was origi-
nally mahkook, that being the Nootkan for buy, sell or trade, there being no
distinction, as barter was the first order of prehistoric trade. Then mahsh
(F. marchand) was introduced by the French, but as the distinction be-
tween buying, selling and exchanging required more definite terms, mah-
kook came to apply to buying, mahsh to selling, and huyhuy to exchange.
"Huyhuy la sell"— to change the saddle.
"Huyhuy tumtum"—to change One's mind. It is said to mean a hasty
exchange in some cases, and that it got its origin in the French for
yes, yes — oui, oui.
"Mamook huyhuy"— to change, to trade.
"Nika ticky huyhuy kuitan kopa canim"— I want to trade horse for
canoe.
"Mika ticky huyhuy kuitan kopa canim?"— do you want to trade horse
for canoe?
H W A H ! (J): Ah, indeed! Exclamation of surprise.
HY-AK' ( C ) : Quick, hurry, swift, fast, quickly, rapidly, sudden, suddenly,
rapidity of motion.
"Mamook hyak"— to make haste, to be prompt.
"Hyak yaka chako"— quickly he comes.
"Wake hyak"— slow, not fast.
HY-AS' ( N ) : Large, great, very, wide, big, vast, when applied to size; can
be used for very, arduous, celebrated, etc.
"Hyas tyee"— a great chief.
"Hyas ahnkuttie"— a very long time ago.
"Hyas Sunday"— a holiday like Christmas or Fourth of July.
"Hyas tenas"— very small.
"Hyas kloshe"— very good.
"Okoke house yaka hyas"— that house, it is large.
"Nika hyas ticky klatawa"— I very much want to go.
-
CHINOOK-ENGLISH 67
"Hyas tick-tick"— clock.

"Hyas house"— mansion.
HY'-KWA (hiaqua, hiagua, haiqua, ioqua) ( N ) : Shell money or wampum,
large dentalium — one of the tooth shells.
This formerly was used as money among Northwestern Indians. The kind
prized most highly was the dentalium pretiosum, a long, white, quill-like
shell, procured in deep water from the coasts of the straits and inland seas
by thrusting a mass of blubber attached to a long pole down upon the
shells, which grew point up on the rocks, and thus detaching them. It was
strung upon thin deer sinew about a fathom in length. A smaller kind of
the same shell was also used as money and called coop-coop or allekacheek.
These shells were sometimes worn as ornaments in pierced ears and noses.
The tooth shell is extremely long and slender. It is shaped like an elephant's
tusk, is two to three inches in length and one-sixteenth to one-eighth inch
in diameter. The shell is a hollow, slightly curved white tube with fine
rings and striatums on the surface. There is a hole at each end through
which the sinew is run and the shell is of slightly greater diameter at one
end than at the other.
I
I K - H O L ' ( C ) : River, stream (see cooley).
I K ' - I K ( C ) : Fishhook.
IK-POO'-IE ( C ) : To shut, close, stop by closing; to cork.
"Ikpooie la pote"— shut the door.
"Mamook ikpooie"— to surround; to shut.
"Ikpooie kwolan"— deaf; a closed ear.
I K T ( C ) : The numeral one; once, a unit or single thing; also the indefinite
articles, a and an.
" I k t man"— a man, one man.
" I k t dolla"— one dollar.
" I k t cole"— one year.
"Ikt-ikt-man"— some one or other.
" I k t nika klatawa kopa yaka house"— once I go to his house.
" I k t tahlkie"— day before yesterday.
"Ikt time ikt moon"— the time one month.
" I k t time kopa klone moon"— the time of three moons; three months;
quarterly.
"Kopet ikt"— to stop alone, solitary, singly, only one.
I K ' - T A ( C ) : What? (interrogative pronoun). There are three of these:
Klaksta, who? Ikta or kahta, what? Kunsih, how many or how much?
Also, when? How much time or how many days?
"Ikta okoke?"— what is that?
"Ikta mika ticky?"— what do you want?
"Ikta mamook?"— what's the matter? what's doing?
"Ikta mika mamook?"— what are you doing?
IK'-TAS ( C ) : Things, garments, dress, clothes, goods, merchandise, uten-

sils — almost any personal possession.
The use of the same word for what (ikta) and for things (iktas) is found
in other Coast Indian dialects. Iktas is a very expressive word and was
long ago adopted into the English spoken by the early settlers.
"Kah mika iktas?"— where are your things?
"Halo iktas mitlite"— there is nothing here.
"Nika hiyu iktas"— I have many things or goods.
I L ' - L A - H E E ( C ) : Country, land, earth, region, district, soil, farm, field,
ranch, the place where one resides, home.
"Boston Illahee"— United States.
"King George (Chauch) Illahee"—England.
"Passaiooks Illahee"— France.
A l l other whites came from Dutchman Illahee, or Dutchman yaka illahee,
as they commonly expressed it.
"Siwash illahee"— Indian country and later an Indian reservation.
"Saghalie Illahee"— heaven.
"Keekwullie Illahee"—hell. (Saghalie means above and keekwullie be-
low.)
"Okoke illahee yaka hyas kloshe"— this land is very good.
"Delate yaka illahee"— one's native land.
"Konaway okoke illahee"— the world; literally, all this country, every-
thing, everywhere.
"Konaway illahee konaway kah"— all places all where — the universe.
"Saghalie Tyee yaka Illahee"— God, His Country, Heaven.
"Kah mika illahee?"— where is your country? where do you come from?
"Kloshe illahee"— garden.
IN'-A-POO ( C ) : A b u s e .
"Sopena inapoo"— a louse that jumps; a flea.
I N ' - A - T I or enati (C): Across.
"Inati chuck"— over the river.
IP'-SOOT ( C ) : To hide, to keep secret, to conceal; hidden, sly, concealed;
to hide one's self; to hide anything.
"Ipsoot wawa"— to whisper.
"Ipsoot klatawa"— to slip away secretly.
IS'-ICK ( C ) : A paddle, an oar.
"Mamook isick"— to paddle, to row.
"Isick stick"— any wood from which an oar or paddle is made—alder,
ash (literally, paddlewood).
IS'-KUM ( C ) : Get, hold, receive, accept, secure, nab, catch, recover, obtain;
seize; to take hold of, amass.
"Iskum okoke lope"— hold on to that rope.
"Mika na iskum?"— did you get it?
"Mika iskum?"— you get?
"Iskum piah stick"— get some firewood.
CHINOOK-ENGLISH 69
"Iskum klootchman"— get a woman; get married.
"Iskum kumtux"— get understanding, to learn.
"Iskum kopa tumtum"— to believe.
"Potlatch nika?"— give me?
'Iskum"— take it.
"Kah mika iskum?"— where did you get it?
"Nika iskum kopa stick?"— I got it in the woods.
"Iskum sapolil"— harvest.
I T ' - L A N or eth'-lan (C): A fathom, the length of the arms extended.
I T ' - L O - K U M ( C ) : A gambling game, the game of "hand," a common amuse-
ment among all the tribes.
"Mamook itlokum"— to gamble.
I T L ' - W I L - L I E ( C ) : Meat, flesh, muscle of a person or animal.
"Lemooto itlwillie, or lemooto yaka itlwillie"— mutton; literally, sheep,
his meat.
"Moosmoos yaka itlwillie"— beef; cow, its meat.
"Mowitch yaka itlwillie"— deer, its flesh; venison.
"Tenas moosmoos yaka itlwillie"— veal; little cow, its flesh.
"Konaway nika itlwillie sick"— all my muscles are sore.
ITS'-WOOT ( C ) : A bear, a black bear.
"Itswoot pasese"— a dark, thick cloth, a dark blanket. Probably origi-
nally used by Indians who saw a resemblance between the heavy dark
blankets of the Hudson's Bay Company and the fur of a black bear.
K
KAH? ( C ) : Where? whence? whither?
"Kah mika klatawa?"— where are you going?
"Halo kah"— nowhere.
"Konaway kah"~ everywhere; literally, all where.
"Kah mika mitlite?"— where do you live or stay?
"Kah mika illahee?"— where is your land or where is your country?
"Kah mika chaco?"— where do you come from?
"Kah yaka sick?"— where is he sick? what is the matter?
"Kah cole chaco"— where the cold comes from — north.
"Kah sun chaco"— where the sun rises or comes from — east.
"Kah sun klatawa"— where the sun goes — west.
"Kah sun mitlite kopa sitkum sun"— where the sun is at half sun — mid-
day — south.
KAH-DE'-NA ( C ) : To fight.
"Clatsop tillikum kadeena Chehalis"— the Clatsops fight with the Che-
halis.
KAH'-KAH (J): A crow.
KAH'-KWA ( N ) : Like, similar to, equal with, alike, as so, as also, even as,
thus, such, hence, because, inasmuch; mostly used for like and alike.
"Kahkwa tyee"— like a chief, aristocratic, kingly.
"Kahkwa nika tumtum"— like as my heart; as I think; so I think.
"Kahkwa hyas nika"— as large as I am; as big I.

"Halo kahkwa"— not like, unlike.
"Kahkwa spose"— as if; like supposed.
"Yaka kahkwa"— alike; it like.
"Kopet kahkwa"— that is all.
"Delate kahkwa'— exactly the same.
"Kloshe kahkwa"—that is right; good so; so be it; amen. (The Lord's
Prayer in the Chinook jargon ends with the expression: "kloshe
kahkwa."
According to Myron Eells (1843-1907), who lived among the Puget Sound
Indians practically all his life, "kahkwa" is often used with other words,
especially nouns, changing them into adverbs and sometimes into adjectives.
The following phrases illustrate what he means:
"Kahkwa chikamin"— metallic; like metal.
"Kahkwa cole illahee"— wintry; like the country of the cold.
"Kahkwa chuck"— fluid; liquid, like water.
"Kahkwa tillikum"— friendly.
KAH-LO'-KEN ( C ) : Aswan.
KAH'-MOOKS or Komooks ( C ) : A dog. (Pronounced differently in different
localities. Among the Kwakiutl it is comox. Comox, a coal mining town
on Vancouver Island in the original Kwakiutl country, takes its name from
the word.)
"Kahkwa kahmooks"— like a dog, beastly.
"Kahmooks house"— dog house.
"Kahmooks wawa"— bark of a dog.
KAH'-NA-WAY ( C ) : Acorn or acorns.
"Kahnaway stick"— the oak.
KAH'-TA ( C ) : How? why?
"Kahta mika mamook okoke?"— why (do) you do that?
"Kahta mika chaco?"—how (did) you come?
"Kahta mika?"—how (are) you?
"Pe kahta?"— and why? what for?
"Kahta kopa yaka?"— how is he?
KA-LAK'-A-LA or Kulakula (C): A bird, a fowl, a winged insect, a wing.
( I t is said to be an imitation of the notes of a wild goose when flying —
hence flying bird.)
"Kalakala house"— a nest.
KAL-A-KWAH'-TEE ( J ) : The silky inner bark of the cedar. This bark,
stripped in long filaments and made fast to a cord or sinew in a long fringe,
was worn by Chinook and other Indian women of the lower country for
skirts and capes. The word also means petticoat. Chinese and Japanese
make similar garments of long grass.
KA-LI'-TAN ( C ) : An arrow, a shot, a bullet.
"Kalitan le sac"— a quiver for arrows, originally; but when guns were
introduced the expression also meant a shotpouch, and also was used
for bullets and lead.
CHINOOK-ENGLISH 71
KAMAS: See Camas.

KA'MO'-SUK ( C ) : Beads.
"Tyee kamosuk"— the large blue beads so highly prized in the fur-trading
days.
KAP-SWOL'-LA ( J ) : To steal, rob; a theft, larceny; a thief.
"Yaka kapswolla canim"— he stole the canoe.
"Kuitan kapswolla"— horse thief.
"Mika kapswolla okoke?"—• did you steal that?
"Kapswolla klootchman"— steal a woman; rape.
"Yaka kumtux kapswolla"— he knows how to steal.
"Yaka kapswolla man"— he is a thief.
Used with other words "kapswolla" acquires a larger significance than in
any of the examples given above:
"Kapswolla klatawa"— to go secretly, or steal away.
"Kapswolla mamook"— to do secretly.
"Wake kloshe mika kapswolla"— (not good you steal). Thou shalt not
steal.— Commandment.
"Kapswolla wawa"— to speak ill.
"Kapswolla moosum"—literally "steal sleep." (Used to mean adultery,
illicit sexual intercourse.)
"Kapswolla kopa klootchman"— to elope.
KAT'-SUK ( C ) : The middle or center.
KAUP'-HO ( C ) : An elder brother or cousin. Also "elip ow," but "kimtah
ow," younger brother.
KAU'-PY ( J ) : Coffee ( A n Indian attempt to pronounce the word in English.)
KA-WAK' (S): To fly.
KAW'-KA-WAK ( C ) : YeUow or pale green.
K E E ' - K W U L - L I E ( C ) : Low, below, under, beneath, down, inward.
"Mamook keekwullie"— to lower.
"Mitlite keekwuUie"— to set down, put under, place beneath.
"Keekwullie"— low.
"Elip keekwullie"—lower.
"Elip keekwullie kopa konaway"— lower than all or lowest.
"Klatawa keekwullie kopa chuck"— to dive; literally, to go beneath the
water.
"Mahsh keekwullie kopa illahee"— to bury; to put under the ground.
KEEL'-AL-LY ( C ) : A medicine man.
KEEP'-WOT ( C ) : Needle; pin; thorn; sting of an insect.
KEH-LO'-KE or kaloke ( C ) : A swan.
KEH'-SU or kisu ( C ) : An apron.
KEH'-WA ( J ) : Because (see kahkwa).
"Kehwa yaka memaloose"— because she (or he, or i t ) is dead.
KE'-LOK ( C ) : Crane.
KES'-CHI ( C ) : Notwithstanding; although.
"Keschi yaka wawa wake mamook"— although he said not to do it.
KET'-LING ( E ) : Kettle, can, basin.
KET'-WIL-LA ( C ) : Cellar, pit.
K I L - i r - S U T ( C ) : Flint, bottle, glass.
K I L L ' - A - P I or keellapi ( C ) : To turn, return, overturn, upset, reverse, retreat,
capsize, and often to denote crooked or twisted deformities.
"Killapi canim"— to upset a canoe.
"Hyak killapi"— to return quickly, to hurry back.
"Killapi kopa house"— go back to the house.
"Mika killapi alta?"~ have you returned now?
"Mamook killapi"— to bring back or to send back.
"Killapi tumtum"— to change your mind, reverse your opinion.
"Killapi seeowist"— crossed or crooked eyes.
"Killapi teahwit"— crooked legs or arms.
K I M ' - T A H ( C ) : Behind, after, afterwards, last, since, back, rear, subsequent,
younger.
"Klatawa kimtah"— to go behind, to follow.
"Delate kimtah"— last.
"Nika elip, pe yaka kimtah"— I first and he afterwards.
"Okoke kimtah"— the one behind.
"Kimtah nika nanitch mika"— since I saw you.
"Kimtah sitkum sun"— afternoon.
"Kimtah kloshe"— worse.
K I N G CHAUTSH ( E ) : A King George man. (Another Indian attempt to
pronounce an English word.)
K I N ' - N I - K I N - N I K ( C ) : Smoking weed. (Originally a prepared mixture
but later referred to certain plants.)
Coastal Indians smoked the leaves of the Kinnikinnik or bear-berry (Arcto-
staphylos uva-ursi)—a pretty, trailing shrub with reddish bark and ever-
green leaves. The fruit is a bright red berry which was eaten by both
Indians and bears.
KI'-NOOTL ( C ) : Tobacco; smoking.
KISH'-KISH ( C ) : To drive as to drive horses or cattle.
"Mamook kishkish"— to drive or impel, make drive.
"Yaka kishkish nika"— he drove me away.
"Mamook kishkish okoke moosmoos"— drive away that ox or cow.
KIS'-SU or kehsu ( C ) : An apron.
KI'-WA ( W ) : Crooked.
KT-YA (S): Entrails, bowels.
K L A H ( C ) : Free or clear from, in sight; to escape.
"Alta yaka klah"— now he is in sight.
"Klataka klah"— to escape and get away, as a prisoner escaping.
"Yaka klatawa klah"— he escaped.
"Chako klah"— to come up, as seed; to clear up, if used in speaking of
the weather; to open out, meaning open spaces in the woods.
"Mamook klah"— to uncover.
KLA'-HA-NIE ( C ) : Out of doors, outside, out, without, exterior.
"Mamook klahanie okoke"— put that out.
CHINOOK-ENGLISH 73
"Chako klahanie"— to emerge or come out from, to be delivered.

"Klatawa klahanie"— to go out.
"Mahsh klahanie"— to throw out or eject.
"Klahanie kopa house"— out of doors, out of the house.
"Klatawa nesika klahanie kopa town"— let us go away from the city.
KLA-HOW-YA? ( C ) : How do you do? good day, good morning, good
evening, or good-by (the ordinary salutation whether meeting or parting).
"Klahowya sikhs"— good day, friend; good-bye, friend; how are you,
friend?
KLA-HOW'-YUM ( C ) : Poor, wretched, miserable, needy, in distress, com-
passion.
"Mamook klahowyum"— to give alms; to take pity.
"Hyas klahowyum nesika"— we are very poor.
K L A K ( C ) : Off, out, away; to take off.
"Klak kopa ooahut"— get out of the road.
"Mamook klak capo"— take off the coat.
"Klak kwolan"— to clip off the ears.
KLAK'-STA ( C ) : Who? whose? which? which one? any.
"Klaksta okoke Boston man?"— who is that American?
"Klaksta yahwa?"— who is there?
"Halo klaksta"— no one, not any.
"Klaksta mamook okoke?"— who did that?
" I k t man, klonas klaksta"— a man, I don't know whom, therefore some-
body.
"Konaway klaksta"— everyone.
KLAK'-WUN (S): To wipe or lick.
"Klakwun la-tahb"— wipe off the table.
K L A L E ( C ) : Black or dark blue, also green; ignorant.
"Okoke pasese yaka klale"— that blanket it is black.
"Klale nika tumtum"— ignorant is my mind.
"Sitkum-klale"—brown; half black.
KLAP ( C ) : To find, arrive.
"Nika klap kopa polaklie"— I arrived at night.
"Mika klap mika canim?"— did you find your canoe?
"Tenas klap"— to be with child, "tenas," little, always standing for child
when used in that manner.
"Klap wawa"— to learn a language.
"Klap tumtum"—to decide or arrive at an opinion.
KLA'-PITE (C): Thread, twine.
KLA-POO'-CHUS ( C ) : Beard (seetupso).
KLAS'-KA ( C ) : They, thine, them, their, theirs, others (anything pertaining
to the third person, plural number).
"Klaska klatawa kopa Clallam illahee"— they go (or went) to the Clallam
country.
"Nika nanitch klaska"— I see them.
"Okoke klaska illahee"— this is their land.
KLAT'-A-WA ( N ) : To go, flee, travel, move away, migrate, start, leave,

begone, get out, depart.
"Klatawa teahwhit"— to go on foot, to walk.
"Yaka klatawa kopa Seattle"— he goes, or he went, to Seattle.
"Mamook klatawa"— to make go or send.
K L A ' - W A H ( C ) : Slow, slowly, tardily; lazy.
"Klatawa klawah"— go slowly.
"Yahka chaco klawah"— he comes slowly.
"Wawa klawah"— speak slowly.
KLA'-WHOP ( C ) : A hole, pit, cellar.
K L E M ' - A - H U N (S): To stab, wound, spear.
KLIK'-A-MUKS ( C ) : Blackberries; dewberries.
K L I K ' - W A L - L I E ( C ) : Brass, brass armlet, brass wire.
K L I L E ( C ) : Sour; bitter.
K L I M - I N ' - A - W H I T ( C ) : A he, falsehood; to lie; untrue.
"Hyas kumtux kliminawhit"— he is a big liar.
"Yaka kwonesum kliminawhit"— he always lies.
K L I M ' - M I N ( C ) : Soft, not hard, fine in substance, fine.
"Klimmin sapolil"— flour, grain ground fine.
"Chako klimmin"— to become soft, melt.
"Klimmin illahee"— soft or marshy ground, mud.
"Wake klimmin or halo klimmin"— not soft, hard.
"Mamook klimmin"— to make become soft or to soften by working, as
dressing a deerskin until it is pliable as cloth.
KLIP or klep ( C ) : Deep, sunken; to sink.
"Klip chuck"— deep water.
"Klip sun"— sunset; literally, sinks sun.
KLIS'-KWISS ( C ) : A mat made of cattail rushes.
"Kliskwiss yaka kloshe kopa bed"— the mat is good for a bed.
K L O H - K L O H ( C ) : Oyster or oysters (see chetlo).
KLO'-NAS ( C ) : Perhaps, doubtful, might, may, I do not know, maybe so,
who knows? ( A n expression of uncertainty or doubt; the Jargon equivalent
for the Spanish term, quien sabe.)
"Klonas?"— who knows?
"Klonas nika klatawa"— perhaps, or maybe, I go.
"Kah mika kahpho?"— where is your brother?
"Klonas"— I do not know.
"Mika tumtum hiyu snass okoke sun?"— do you think i t will rain much
today?
"Klonas"— I don't know.
"Klonas yaka chako tomollo"— perhaps he will come tomorrow.
KLONE ( C ) : Three (the numeral).
"Klone tillikum"— three people.
"Klone sun"— three days.
"Klone canim"— three canoes.
CHINOOK-ENGLISH 75
KLOOK ( E ) : Crooked (see killapi).

"Klook teahwit"— lame, crooked legs or arms.
KLOOTCH'-MAN ( N ) : A woman, a female of any animal; a wife.
"Tenas klootchman"— a little woman, a girl or maiden.
"Kah mika klootchman?"— where is your wife?
"Klootchman kuitan"— a mare.
"Tenas yaka tenas klootchman"— a granddaughter, daughter of daughter.
"Klootchman yaka mama"— mother-in-law; woman, her mother.
"Klootchman yaka ats"— sister-in-law; woman, her sister.
KLO-SHE ( N ) : Good.
John Meares was first to record the word, which he spelled "cloosh."
Callicum used it on Meares' ship in 1788. It has no definite origin, but seems
to come from the similarity of several tribal words and is evidently early
Jargon. Its most general use is as the equivalent of the adjective, good.
The Nootkan is 'klohtl" and so is the Tokwhat; in Makah, an isolated
Nootkan tribe, it is "klotelo" and in Nisqually, the word is "klob." Shaw
gives forty-five meanings such as good, well, well enough, affable, amiable,
apt, auspicious, beautiful, beloved, beneficial, convenient, efficient, elegant,
even, fair, fine, fortune, fragrant, gay, graceful, hospitable, meek, intimate,
kind, mild, modest, moral, neat, nice, pleasant, plain, please, practical,
pretty, right, reliable, safe, respectable, secure, still, smooth, splendid,
useful, upright, virtuous, untarnished. Their exact meanings can be de-
termined only by the words used with and the sense used in, for even the
forty-five may be extended, as may be seen in some of the examples given.
"Kloshe nanitch"— look good, look well, look out, look sharp, take care,
guard, defend, nurse, watch, provide.
"Delate hyas kloshe"— magnificent; literally, perfectly very good.
"Elip kloshe"—better.
"Elip kloshe kopa konaway"— best; literally better than all.
"Mamook kloshe"— make good or pleasing, adorn, decorate, arrange,
fix, behave, cure, prepare, repair.
"Wake kloshe"— not good, not well, unkind, unfavorable, wrong.
"Wake kloshe kopa mahkook"— not good to sell, unsalable.
"Kloshe kopa mahkook"— good to sell, salable, merchantable.
"Kloshe kopa nika"— I am satisfied; good enough for me.
"Kloshe kopa cultus potlatch"— liberal, generous, good about giving.
"Kloshe kopet"— be still.
"Kloshe mitlite"— remain, hold on.
"Kloshe tumtum"—love, delight, well meaning, good intention, happy,
favorable, friendly.
"Kloshe chako"— all right, come on, come good.
'Kloshe kahkwa"— well, very well, so be it, enough, amen.
"Kloshe tumtum mika chako"— this is a form of invitation signifying
welcome, literally, good intentions you come.
KLOSHE-SPOSE (N & E ) : a combination of good and suppose. Shall or

may I, let me, good if—or their equivalent.
"Kloshe-spose nika klatawa?"— shall I or may I go?
"Kloshe-spose nika mamook pia okoke?"— shall I cook that?
K L U H or Hugh ( C ) : To tear; to plow.
K L U K - U L H ' ( C ) : Broad, or wide, as of a plank.
KO ( C ) : To reach, to arrive at.
"Chee klaska ko"— now they arrive, or they have just come.
"Kunsih nesika ko kopa Nisqually?"— when shall we arrive at Nisqually?
"Tahlkie sun nika ko kopa Olympia."— yesterday I arrived at Olympia.
KO'-KO: To knock.
KO'-KO-STICK ( J ) : Woodpecker (knock-tree).
KOK'-SHUT ( N ) : To break, beat, hit, bruise, burst, cleave, hurt, knock,
rap, tear, slap, shatter, split; also broken, demolished, torn, bruised; a
break. (Mamook is often used with it to make it passive.)
"Nika kokshut yaka, or nika mamook kokshut yaka"—I hit him (both
would be proper).
"Nika kokshut or ehako kokshut"— I am hurt (both would be proper).
"Hyas kokshut"— much broken.
"Hiya kokshut"— many broken, many pieces, all broken to pieces. (An-
other way of showing the active and passive.)
"Chako kokshut"— broken.
"Mamook kokshut"— to break. (Mamook is work, the act of doing
things.)
KON'-A-WAY ( C ) : A l l , every, total, universal, entire, aggregate, the sum,
the whole.
"Klaska konaway klatawa"— they have all gone.
"Konaway tillikum"— everybody, all the people everywhere.
"Konaway ikta"— everything.
"Konaway kah"— everywhere.
"Konaway sun"— every day.
KOO'-SAH ( C ) : Sky, heaven.
KO'-PA ( C ) : According to, around, about, concerning, to, in, into, unto,
with, towards, of, there, in that place, than for, from, on, during, through,
instead of. Kopa is the principal preposition in the Jargon.
There are nine words and three phrases which are used as prepositions,
but "kopa" is used more than all the others. "Kunamokst" is sometimes
used for "with," "kopa saghalie" (pronounced like sockalee) for "over" and
"keekwullie" for "under." Kopa has such a variety of meanings that its
significance in each case can be known only by the connection in which it
is used. Some of these are exact opposites, like "from" and "to."
"Yaka chako kopa saghalie"— he came from heaven (above).
"Yaka klatawa kopa saghalie"— he went to heaven.
"Alta nika potlatch wawa kopa mika kopa okoke pepah"— now I give talk
to you about this picture (or paper).
"Yaka mitlite kopa chuck"— he is on the water.
CHINOOK-ENGLISH 77
"Yaka mitlite kopa canim"— he is in the canoe.

"Yaka klatawa kopa stick"— he has gone into the woods.
"Kopa ikt moon yaka mitlite yukwa"— during one month he w i l l stay
here.
"Kopa yaka wawa John yaka memaloose"— according to his talk John
(he) is dead.
"Saghalie kopa mountain"— on top of the mountain.
"Jesus yaka memaloose kopa nesika"— Jesus he died for us, or instead
of us.
Kopa is often prefixed to a noun to show the possessive case: "Okoke
kuitan kopa John"— this horse is John's (belongs to).
As an adverb: "Yaka kamooks kopa"—his dogs are there. Used thus the
last syllable is accented and prolonged — ko-pa-a.
The commonly used word for "there" is "yahwa": "Nika kuitan elip
kloshe kopa yaka kuitan"— my horse is better than his horse. "Kopa nika
house"— at my house, or in my house. "Lolo okoke kopa mika"— take that
with you. "Cultus kopa nika"— it is nothing to me.
KO'-PET ( C ) : Stop, quit, leave off, enough, only, alone, except, enough,
submit, that is all.
"Kopet wawa"— stop talking.
"Kopet hiyu"— enough, plenty.
"Kloshe kopet"— be still.
"Kopet ikt"— only one, each, alone, lonely.
"Kopet okoke"— enough of that, that's all.
"Kopet ikt time"— once.
"Kopet kumtux"— to stop knowing, to forget.
"Kopet nika mitlite"— only I remain, or am in this place.
"Wake siah kopet"— nearly finished, not far from enough.
"Mamook kopet"— make stop or to finish, fulfill, complete, quench,
conclude.
"Mamook pia kopet"— make the fire quit, go out, put out the fire,
quench it.
"Kopet tomollo"— day after tomorrow.
"Kopet cooley"— to halt, to stop walking, moving or running.
"Konaway klatawa kopet yaka"— all went except him.
"Halo kopet"— incomplete. ("Wake yaka kopet" is used also for in-
complete or unfinished, meaning literally, not it is stop.)
"Wawa kloshe kopet"— to forbid.
"Kopet alta"—finished now.
KOW ( C ) : To tie, to fasten, to be fastened.
"Kow mika kuitan"— tie your horse.
"Mika mamook kow mika kuitan?"— have you tied your horse?
"Nowitka, yaka kow"— yes, he is tied.
"Ikt kow"— a bundle, a parcel, a package, a pack. ( I k t is one and the
pack, parcel or bundle was tied around with straps, strings or rope.)
"Mamook kow"— to tie, hitch or shackle; to make it tied up.

"Mahsh kow"— to untie (mahsh, here, meaning release).
KU'-I-TAN ( C ) : Horse.
"Klatawa kopa kuitan"— to ride; go on a horse.
"Yaka hyas kloshe kuitan?"— is that a good horse?
"Cooley kuitan"— a race horse.
"Stone kuitan"— a stallion.
"Kuitan lepee"— hoofs.
K U L L ( C ) : Hard in substance, solid, tough, difficult.
"Chako kull"— to become hard.
"Halo kull" or "wake kull"— not hard, soft, tender, easy.
"Kull stick"— any hard wood, usually oak, as it is the only hardwood
of the Northwest.
"Mamook kull"— to make become hard, to cause to harden.
"Kull snass"— hard rain, therefore snow, hail, ice.
"Kull tatoosh"— cheese.
K U L ' - L A H (S): A fence, a rail, a pen, an enclosure, a corral.
"Kullah stick"— fence rails.
Kullah is said originally to have meant the stockade within which the
Indian houses were built for protection. As it is Salish this is probably
true. The Salish were flatheads, and the longheads of the far north were
from time immemorial the ancient and hereditary enemies of the flatheads
or Salish tribes. Those stockades surrounding Siwash villages were a famil-
iar sight long after they no longer served their original use.
KUM'-TUX or kumtucks ( N ) : Know, learn, be acquainted with, knowledge,
wisdom, sense, recognize, believe, understand.
"Mika kumtux Chinook?"— do you understand Chinook?
"Nika kumtux yaka"— I know him.
"Nika kumtux okoke"— I understand it, or I know that.
"Delate kumtux"— to know perfectly well, thorough knowledge, to prove,
to be sure.
"Halo delate kumtux"— to be in doubt, uncertain.
"Halo kumtux" and "wake kumtux"— do not understand, to misunder-
stand, not to know.
"Iskum kumtux"— to get knowledge, to learn.
"Nika ticky kumtux"— I want to know; I desire to learn.
"Kumtux mamook"— to understand how it is done; to be skillfull or
competent.
"Halo kumtux mamook"— unskilled; incompetent, don't know how to
do it (mamook meaning work, the act of doing anything).
KUN'-A-MOKST ( C ) : Both, together, with, amid, among, beside, besides,
"all two."
"Kunamokst kahkwa"— both alike.
"Nesika klatawa kunamokst"— we w i l l go together.
"Nika mitlite kunamokst yaka"— I live with him.
CHINOOK-ENGLISH 79
"Chako kunamokst"— to come together, to join or unite; to come with

each other, meet, congregate, gather together, assemble.
"Wawa kunamokst"— talk together, consult.
"Tumtum kunamokst"— to agree in opinion.
"Kunamokst mika"— to agree with you.
KUN'-SIH or konsee ( C ) : How many? how much? when, ever.
"Kunsih tillikum mitlite?"— how many people are there?
"Kunsih mika klatawa?"— when do you go?
"Wake kunsih"— not ever, never.
"Mamook kunsih"— to count, the act of ascertaining how many.
"Kunsih hyas?"— how big?
"Kunsih laly?"— how long?
"Kunsih dolla?"— how many dollars? what price or cost?
"Kunsih siah?"— how far? distance.
"Kunsih hiyu?"— how much.
"Kunsih mika chako?"— when did you come?
"Kunsih chaco Chautsh?"— when will George come?
"Wake kunsih"— never.
KUSH'-IS ( S ) : Stockings, socks.
KWAD'-DIS ( K ) : Whale (see Ekkoli).
KWAIST or kweest (C): Nine.
"Tahtlum pe kwaist"— ten and nine, is nineteen.
"Kwaist tahtlum"— nine tens, is ninety.
"Kwaist tukamonuk"— nine hundred.
K W A - L A L ' K W A - L A L ' ( C ) : To gallop.
K W A L ' - H (S): An aunt.
K W A N ( C ) : Glad, merry, tame, meek, quiet.
"Yaka kwan"— he is glad.
KWASS ( C ) : fear; to be afraid, tame, shy, timid; to fear, to tame.
"Halo kwass"— fearless, not afraid.
"Nika kwass"— I am afraid.
KWA'-TA ( E ) : A quarter of a dollar. (Indian attempt to pronounce the
word quarter.) "Tenas sitkum," small half, is another expression for the
quarter or less than half of anything.
KWATES (S): Sour; bitter; not pleased.
K W E H - K W E H (J): A mallard duck.
KWEK'-WE-ENS (S): A pin.
K W E L T H (S): Proud.
KWE'-O KWE'-O ( C ) : A ring; a circle.
K W I N ' - N U M ( C ) : Five (the numeral).
"Tahtlum pe kwinnum"— ten and five, fifteen.
"Kwinnum tahtlum"— fifty.
KWI-SE-O ( C ) : The porpoise.
K W I S H ( C ) : Refusal (exclamation of).
KWIS'-KWIS ( C ) : A squirrel (the red or pine squirrel).
KWIT'-SHAD-IE (S): Hare; rabbit.
KWO'-LAN (S): The ear.
"Kumtux kopa kwolan"— to hear.
"Halo kwolan"— deaf.
KWON'-E-SUM ( C ) : Always, forever, eternal, continual, everlasting, per-
petual, unceasing, etc.
"Kahkwa kwonesum"— like always, as usual.
"Kwonesum nika nanitch okoke"— always I see that.
"Kwonesum yaka klatawa"— always he goes.
"Kwonesum mitlite"— to keep, to remain permanently.
K W U L T ( C ) : To hit, strike, or wound (without cutting).
K W U N - N U M ' (S): To count; numbers (see Kunsih).
K W U T L (C): To push; to squeeze; secure; fasten.
"Mamook kwutl chik-chik"— push the wagon hard.
L
LA-BLEED' ( F ) : A bridle.
LA-BOOS' ( F ) : Mouth (see la-push).
LA-BOO-TAI' ( F ) : A bottle.
LA-CA'-LAT ( F ) : A carrot.
LA-CA-SET' ( F ) : A box, a trunk or chest, a casket, money-box.
LA-CLO'-A: ( F ) : A cross.
L A G H ( C ) : To tip, to lean, to stoop, to bend over; to tip, as a boat.
"Wake nika lagh canim"— I did not tip the canoe.
"Yahka lagh kahkwa oleman"— he stoops like an aged man.
LA-GOME' (F): Pitch, glue, gum.
"La-gome stick"— pitch-pine.
L A - H A L ' ( C ) : A game played with ten small disks, one of which is marked.
The game was played by all Indians in the Northwest from immemorial
times; it was the universal native pastime. It is primitive enough, consist-
ing in successfully guessing the hand that holds the marked disk. "Mamook
lahal" is to gamble and lahal is the name of the game. Among Puget
Sound Indians and those farther north the word is commonly lahal, but
in earlier times it was slahal for the bones and lahal for the disks, both
devices being used among the tribes.
LA-HASH' ( F ) : An ax or hatchet.
L A K ' - I T ( C ) : Four (the numeral).
L A - L A H ' ( C ) : To cheat, trick; joke with.
L A - L A H M ' ( F ) : An oar.
"Mamook lalahm"— to row, to use the oar.
L A - L A N G ' ( F ) : The tongue, a language.
"Nika lalang huloima kopa yaka lalang"— my language is different from
his language.
L A - L E E M ' ( F ) : A file.
LA-LIM'(F):Basp,file.
CHINOOK-ENGLISH 81
LA'-LY ( C ) : Time. (Prolonging the "a" sound in pronouncing 'laly" means

a long time, but do not confuse this with "ahnkuttie," which means former
time, formerly, ago. The same distinction between time and long time in
the pronunciation of "laly" is found in using the word "siah" for far.
Prolonging the sound of " i " in "siah" means very far.)
"Tenas laly"— a short time.
"Kunsih laly"— how long?
"Tenas laly kimta"— a little while after.
"Tenas laly elip"— a little while before.
"Kunsih laly mika mitlite yukwa?"— How long have you lived here?
L A - M A H ' (F): The hand, arm, thumb, fingers, sleeve, handle of anything,
limb or knot of a tree.
"Kloshe lamah"— the right (good) hand.
"Potlatch lamah"— shake (give) hands.
"Iskum kopa yaka lamah"— get in his arm, to hug.
"Kimtah lamah"— elbow.
L A - M A I ' ( F ) : An old woman.
LA-MESSE' ( F ) : The ceremony of the mass.
"Mamook la-messe"— to say mass. (The reason why it is not "wawa
la-messe" — wawa, talk — is probably that the ceremony is an act, the
priest at work, and mamook is the proper word for work, or for any
act.)
LA-MET'-SIN ( F ) : Medicine —but not in the sense of magic. ("Tahmah-
nawis" is the term for magic, the medicine of the Indian conjurer, or medi-
icine man. "La-metsin" is Jargon and is an Indian attempt to pronounce
the French for medicine. It means drugs, salves, ointments, pills, powders,
physics.)
"La-metsin tupso"— an herb.
"Mika ticky la-metsin?"— do you want medicine?
LA-MON'-TAY ( F ) : A mountain.
"Klatawa kopa saghalie la-montay"—to ascend to the summit of the
mountain.
LA-PEEP' ( F ) : A tobacco pipe.
LA-PEHSH' ( F ) : A pole.
L A - P E L L ' ( F ) : A shovel or spade.
L A - P E L ' - L A H ( J ) : A roast.
"Mamook lapellah"— to roast before a fire, the act of roasting.
LA-PE-OSH' ( F ) : A mattock or hoe.
LA-PLASH' ( F ) : A plank, a board, lumber.
"Cultus laplash"— refuse or waste lumber.
"Laplash man"— a carpenter, a builder of houses, a worker in wood.
"Kah mika iskum okoke laplash?"— where did you get that lumber?
LA-PO-EL' ( F ) : A frying pan; a stove.
"Mamook lapoel"— to fry.
LA-POME' ( F ) : An apple.
"Chuck lapome"— cider.
LA-POOL' ( F ) : A hen; poultry.

"Siwash lapool"— the grouse.
LA-POTE' ( F ) : A door.
LA-PUSH' or la-boos' ( F ) : The mouth, mouth of a river.
"Mokst laboos or lapush"— the forks of a river, literally, two mouths.
"Kloshe kopa lapush"— good to the mouth, hence to relish.
LA-PUSH'-ET ( F ) : Hayfork.
LA-SAN-SHEL' ( F ) : Girth, sash, belt, strap.
LA-SEE' ( F ) : A saw.
LA-SELL' ( F ) : A saddle.
LA-SHAL-LOO' (F): Plough.
LA-SHAN'-DEL ( F ) : A candle.
LA-SHASE' ( F ) : Chair.
LA-SHEM'-I-NAY ( F ) : The chimney.
LA-SHEN' ( F ) : A chain.
LA-SHEY' ( J ) : Barley.
LA-SI-ET' ( F ) : A plate.
LA-SWAY' ( F ) : Silk, silken.
L A - T A H ' ( F ) : The teeth.
LA-TAHB' ( F ) : Table.
LA-TATE' ( F ) : The head, brains, sense, intellect.
"Pil latate"— red head.
"Nika sick kopa nika latate"— I am sick in my head.
"Halo latate"— no head, stupid.
"Kopa latate"— with the head, mental.
"Huloima latate"— different head, delirious.
"Tupso kopa latate"— hair; literally, the grass on the head.
"Wake skookum latate"— imbecile.
L A - T L A H ' ( F ) : Noise.
"Skookum latlah"— loud.
L A W ( E ) : Law, command, decree. (The Indians had tribal law exercised
by themselves or through the commands and degrees of chieftains. Also
there was Boston or American law. They found the short English word,
law, easy, and it was adaptable into the Jargon.)
"Yaka kumtux Boston law"— he understands American law.
"Delate kopa law" or "kloshe kopa law"— legal.
"Wake kloshe kopa law"— illegal or illegitimate.
L A - W E N ' ( F ) : Oats. (This grain was one of the earliest and most prolific
crops produced in the Northwest when Indians were still numerous.)
LA-WEST' ( F ) : A vest or waistcoat.
LAW'-SUK ( C ) : To dance, dance.
LA'-ZY ( E ) : Lazy (seeklawah).
LE-BAH'-DO ( F ) : A shingle; shingles.
LE-BAL' ( F ) : Ball; a bullet.
"Tenas lebal"— little bullets or shot.
CHINOOK-ENGLISH 83
LE-BISK'-WEE (F): Biscuit.

LE-COO' ( F ) : The neck.
LE-DOO' ( F ) : Finger.
L E - K L E H ' ( F ) : A key.
"Mamook lekleh"— make locked, lock the door.
"Mahsh lekleh"— unlocked.
"Mamook halo lekleh"— unlocked, also; literally, make not locked.
LE-KYE' (F): Spotted, mottled, dappled.
LE-LO'-BA ( F ) : Ribbon.
LE-LOO' ( F ) : The big gray wolf.
LE-MAH'-TO ( F ) : A hammer.
L E - M E L ' or le-mool' (F): A mule.
LE-MO'-LO (F): Wild, untamed, skittish, barbarous. (Not much used after
the natives learned the world wild.)
L E - M O O ' - T O ( F ) : Sheep.
"Klootchman lemooto"— ewe.
"Lemooto house"— fold, sheepfold.
LE-MOSH' ( F ) : Flies.
LE-PAN" ( F ) : Bread; a loaf of bread.
LE-PEE' ( F ) : The feet, a foot, leg, thigh, a paw, foot prints, tracks; formerly
pronounced luh-pe-ay.
"Yaka lepee yaka kokshut"— his leg is broken.
"Kah. lepee mitlite"— footstep; where foot is or was.
"Klatawa kopa lepee"— go on foot, walk.
"Tzum kah lepee mitlite"— mark where foot was; track.
LE-PI-EGE' ( F ) : A trap or snare.
LE-PISH'-E-MO (J): The saddle blanket and trappings of a horse.
LE-PLAH' (F): Plate or dishes.
LE-PLET' ( F ) : A priest, preacher, minister.
"Yahwa klatawa nesika leplet"— there goes our minister.
One authority, Louis St. Onge (1873) cites a number of church terms used
in the Jargon including:
"Lesepek"— bishop. "Lesapot"— apostle.
"Paska"— Easter. "Olo time"— Lent.
"Eklis"— church. "Katolik"— Catholic.
"Sesu Kli"— Jesus Christ.
However, the only Indian pronunciation the present writer ever heard for
Jesus was "Chesus." The "Sesu K l i " of St. Onge sounds more like a Chinese
attempt to say those words. The early Chinese placer miners and camp
cooks all used the Jargon as easily as the whites or Indians, and used it in
preference to attempting to talk English.
L E - P W A H ' ( F ) : Peas.
LE-SAI' ( F ) : Saint.
LE-SAK' ( F ) : A bag, a pocket, a sack.
LE-SEE'-ZO ( F ) : Scissors; shears.
LE-WHET' ( F ) : A whip.
"Mamook le-whet"— to whip.
LE-YAUB' (F): The devil (see deaub).
LICE ( E ) : (Indian attempt to say rice.)
LIP'-LIP (J): To boil.
"Mamook liplip"— to make boil or cause to boil.
"Okoke lice yaka liplip alta"— that rice it boils now.
LOK'-IT or lakit ( C ) : Four (the numeral).
LO'-LO ( C ) : To carry, bring, bear, load, fetch, remove, transfer, pack, con-
vey, lug, renew. (Originally, lolo meant to carry a child on the back).
"Mamook lolo kopa canim"— make load into canoe.
"Kloshe mika lolo okoke iktas"— load those things good or well, properly.
LOPE ( E ) : Rope.
"Tenas lope"— a cord.
"Skin lope"— rawhide.
L O - W U L - L O ( C ) : Round, whole, all of anything.
LUK'-UT-CHEE ( F ) : Clams. (This word is applied only to the hardshell
or little-neck clam. The quahang or large, round clam of Puget Sound is
called "smetock" on the northern coasts, and the largest of all "go-duck.")
L U M ( E ) : Rum, whiskey, spirits. (The Indian rendition of "r".)
"Lumpechuck"— grog (rum and water).
M
MAH'-KOOK ( N ) : To buy or sell, a purchase, a bargain.
Originally, to trade or exchange. (see "huyhuy" for a discussion of the use
of this word.)
"Hyas mahkook"— dear.
"Tenas mahkook"— cheap.
"Kah mika mahkook okoke iktas?"— where did you buy those things?
"Nika ticky mahkook iktas"— I want to buy some things.
"Mahkook house"— a store, trading post.
M A H ' - L I E ( N ) : To forget.
MAHSH ( F ) : Leave, turn out, throw away, acquit, banish, cast, dash,
desert, dispatch, dismiss, distribute, detach, drop, apply, expel, to part with,
remove, exterminate, extinguish, fling, forsake, get rid of, heave, hurl, lay
down, omit, insert, pour, put, reject, release, relinquish, remit, send, sling,
sow, spill, spend, thrust, toss, transmit — and probably others. (Also to
sell, see huyhuy.)
"Mahsh chuck kopa boat"— bail out the boat; remove the water from the
boat.
"Nika mahsh nika kuitan"— I have sold my horse.
"Cultus mahsh"— to waste.
"Halo mahsh"— to hold, not waste or throw away or leave.
"Tenas mahsh"— to move.
"Mahsh!"— get out.
CHINOOK-ENGLISH 85
"Mahsh keekwullie"— to lower, or put below, to inject, sink, enclose,

throw down, put inside.
"Mahsh tenas"— to give birth to a child.
"Mahsh kunamokst"— mix, put all together.
"Mahsh kopa illahee"— bury, put into the ground.
"Mahsh puss-puss klahanie house"—put the cat out.
"Mahsh okoke pish"— throw that fish away.
MAH'-SIE ( F ) : Thank you, thanks, thankful; also to pray.
"Kloshe nesika mahsie kopa Saghalie Tyee"— let us pray to God; liter-
ally, "good we pray to God".
"Wawa mahsie"— to give thanks, to praise.
"Mahsie kopa Saghalie Tyee"— praise to God — the Doxology.
M A H T ' - L I N - N I E ( C ) : Off shore; out at sea. (Used two ways: if in a boat
it is then to keep off; if on land it is to go toward the water.)
M A H ' - T W I L - L I E ( C ) : In shore, shoreward, on land, towards the interior.
(The opposite of mahtlinnie.)
MA'-KE-SON (J): The chin.
M A - L A H ' ( C ) : Tinware, earthenware, dishes.
M A L ' - L I E ( E ) : To marry, get married; matrimony, marriage, wedding. ( A n
Indian attempt to say marry.)
"Yaka mallie alta"— he is married now.
"Alta nika klatawa kopa mallie"— now I am going to the wedding.
"Elip kopa mallie"— before the wedding, ante nuptial.
"Man yaka chee mallie"— bridegroom, or man newly married.
"Klootchman yaka chee mallie"— a bride.
"Kokshut mallie"— a divorce, literally a broken marriage.
MAL-TEE'-NY (J): Near at hand.
MA-MA ( E ) : Mamma.
MAM-OOK ( N ) : To make, to do, to work, the act of doing anything, action,
labor, exertion, act, deed, work, job, task, toil.
This is the one word in the Jargon that denotes action or which distin-
guishes the act. It is the most useful word in the Jargon as it is prefixed
to many nouns, verbs and adjectives and makes them active verbs. Among
the Indians on Puget Sound it was the most common Chinook (Jargon)
word in use.
"Mamook chako"— make to come or bring, to fetch.
"Mamook liplip"— make to boil.
"Ikta mika mamook?"— what are you doing?
"Mamook elip"— to begin.
"Mamook kloshe"— to make good.
"Mamook tumtum"— to think, to reason.
"Mamook tzum"— to write.
"Mamook alki"— to delay, to make by and by.
"Mamook cultus"— to make bad or no good.
"Mamook kahkwa"— to imitate or mimic, make like.
"Mamook delate"— to make right or correct.
86 CHINOOK: A HISTOEY A N D DICTIONARY
"Mamook killapi"— to twist or make twisted or crooked, to turn over,

to withdraw.
"Mamook kopet"—to stop check, finish, conclude, extinguish.
"Mamook kow"— to tie or wrap, hitch, confine, strap, capture or fasten.
"Mamook kumtux"— to teach, explain, illustrate, inform, make under-
stand.
"Mamook kunsih"— to count; literally, to make how many.
"Mamook sick tumtum"— to i l l treat and hurt one's feelings.
"Mamook skookum"— to strengthen, to make strong, to invigorate.
"Mamook skookum tumtum"— to make brave or courageous.
"Mamook haul"— must.
"Chee mamook"— new work, beginning something.
"Cultus mamook"— poor work, bad work.
"Delate kumtux mamook"—knowing how to work.
"Halo delate mamook"— not right work.
"Kumtux mamook"— skill, knowing the work.
"Kwonesum mamook"— always working, striving, persevering.
"Potlatch mamook"— to give work, employment, to hire.
"Ticky mamook"— desire or want work.
M A N ( E ) : Man. (Also the male of any animal.)
"Tenas man"— lad.
"Man eena" —a male beaver.
"Tenas man moolack"—a little buck elk. (however, stallion is "stone
kuitan")
MEL'-A-KWA ( F ) : A mosquito.
ME-LASS' (E): Molasses (Less common than silup or syrup. Both are Indian
attempts to pronounce the English words).
MEM'-A-LOOSE ( C ) : Dead, to die, expire, decay, become rotten, extinguish.
"Chako memaloose"— become rotten, decay.
"Mamook memaloose"— to kill, murder, execute.
"Memaloose kopa chuck"— to drown, die in the water.
"Memaloose illahee"— a grave or a graveyard, a tomb.
ME-SA'-CHIE ( C ) : Bad, wicked, evil, vile; sin, vice, iniquity. (Not in the
sense of cultus, which is worthless.)
"Elip mesachie"— worse.
"Elip mesachie kopa konaway"— worse than all, worst.
"Mesachie mitlite"— danger, the place where bad is.
ME-SI'-KA ( C ) : You, your, yours. (Second person, plural number, all cases.)
M I ' - K A ( C ) : You, your, yours, thee, thine. (Anything pertaining to the second
person singular, all cases.)
"Okoke mika kuitan?"— is this your horse?
"Kah mika klatawa?"— where are you going?
M I ' - M I E ( C ) : Downstream.
MIST-CHI'-MAS ( J ) : Slave.
MIT-ASS' ( C R ) : Leggings.
CHINOOK-ENGLISH 87
M I T ' - L I T E ( C ) : To stay at, to reside, remain, sit, sit down, to have, inhabit,
abide, dwell, exist, be present, recline, keep, possess, wait. ( I t is also used
for the impersonal verb to be, is.)
"Kah mika mitlite?"— where do you live?
"Mitlite kopa house"— is in the house.
"Yaka mitlite kopa yaka house"— he is in his house.
"Cultus mitlite"— to stop or stay anywhere without any particular
purpose.
"Halo mitlite"— to be absent.
"Kunsih mitlite?"— how many remain?
"Mitlite tenas"— to be with child.
"Mitlite kopa chuck"— to be wet.
M I T ' - W H I T ( C ) : To stand, stand up, arise, be erect.
"Mitwhit stick"— a standing tree, a mast.
"Kloshe mesika mitwhit"— please arise; literally, good you stand up, the
plural mesika showing that it is addressed to an audience or assem-
blage.
MOKST or moxt ( C ) : Two, twice, double, pair, couple, second.
"Mokst klootchman"— two women.
"Mokst tahtlum"— twenty, twice ten.
"Mokst tumtum"— of two minds, consequently in doubt.
MOO'-LA ( F ) : A mill or factory.
"Laplash moola"— a saw mill.
"Sapolil moola"— a flour mill.
M O O ' - L A C K ( C ) : An elk.
MOON ( E ) : The moon, a month.
"Ikt moon"— one month.
"Chee moon"— new moon.
"Sick moon"— the waning or old moon.
"Kopa mokst moon nika killapi"— in two months I w i l l return.
MOOS'-MOOS (J): Cattle, beef, buffalo.
The word is of doubtful origin. It occurs in almost that form in the Cree,
which is moostoos, and is their word for buffalo. There were neither buffalo
nor cattle in the Pacific Northwest country, but buffalo and buffalo skins
were brought over from the Yakima country in old Indian days. Undoubt-
edly the word came with them, and when cattle were introduced, the tribes
imitated the Cree as closely as possible. Hence we "have moostoos (Cree),
musmus (Yakima), musmus (Klickitat), musmus (Chinook) and moos-
moos (Jargon).
"Yaka mitlite taghum moosmoos"— he has six cattle.
"Man yaka kumtux mamook memaloose moosmoos"— a butcher; a man
who knows how to k i l l cattle.
MOO'-SUM (S): Sleep, slumber, asleep; to sleep.
"Nika ticky moosum"— I am sleepy; I want to sleep.
"Nika hyas moosum"—I slept soundly.
"Yaka moosum alta"— he sleeps now.
"Mamook tenas moosum"— to go to bed together, but not to sleep; make
little sleep.
M O W - I T C H ( N ) : A deer, venison. (The word is frequently used to mean
any animal.)
"Klootchman mowitch"— a doe.
"Huloima mowitch"— an animal that is strange or different.
MUCK'-A-MUCK ( J ) : Food, nutriment, meal, feast, eat; to eat, bite, chew,
browse, devour. (Muckamuck is to take anything into the mouth.)
"Muckamuck sapohT— to eat bread.
"Muckamuck chuck"— to drink water.
"Mamook piah muckamuck"— to cook food.
"Potlatch muckamuck"— to give food or feed.
"Muckamuck kopa polaklie"— supper, food at night.
"Muckamuck kopa sitkum sun"— the midday meal, food at half of the
day.
"Muckamuck kopa tenas sun"— the meal when the sun is young, the
early morning meal, breakfast.
"Halo muckamuck"— famine.
MUS'-KET ( E ) : A gun or musket.
MY-EE'-NA ( C ) : To sing; a song.
N
NA? (J): An interrogative interjection.
"Sick na mika?"— are you sick?
N A H ! (S): Look, ha, look here, hey, look there, hark, listen. An interjection.
An original Indian word common to several of the native languages.
"Nah sikhs!"— hey friend!
"Nah tillikums!"— hark people!
NA-HA' ( C ) : Mother. (rarely used, the English mamma having superseded
it.)
NAN'-ITCH ( N ) : See, to see, look, to look for, seek, observe, glance, view,
behold.
"Kloshe nanitch"— look out, be careful, look well; literally, good look.
"Cultus nanitch"— to look around idly, from curiosity.
"Mamook nanitch"— to show, to make seen.
NAU'-ITS (S): Off shore; on the stream, the sea-beach.
NA-WAM'-OOKS (C): Sea otter.
NEM(E):Name.
"Mamook nem"— to name, to call by name.
"Kloshe nem"— a good name, to honor.
"Hyas kloshe nem"— a very great name.
NE-NAM'-OOKS ( C ) : The land otter.
NES'-I-KA ( C ) : We, our, ours, us. (First person, plural, all cases.)
"Chako kopa nesika"— come to (or with) us.
"Alta nesika klatawa"— now we w i l l go.
"Nesika kuitan delate till"— our horses are very tired.
CHINOOK-ENGLISH 89
N E W ' - H A H ( C ) : Here, hither, to this place (see yukwa).

NI'-KA ( C ) : I, me, my, mine. (First person singular, all cases.) The personal
pronouns become possessive by prefixing them to nouns:
"Nika nem"— my name.
"Mika kuitan"— your horse.
"Nesika illahee"— our land.
"Nika house"— my home.
Sometimes "s" is added to the personal pronouns in the possessive case:
"Nikas"— mine. "Mikas"— yours.
"Nesikas"— ours. "Mesikas"— yours.
"Yakas"— his or hers. "Klaskas"— theirs.
This mode is used generally only when the pronoun is the last word in the
sentence, thus: "Okoke kuitan nikas"— that horse is ours.
"Nika nanitch yaka"— I see him.
"Yaka kokshut nika"— he hit me.
"Nika klootchman"— my wife or woman.
"Nika tenas man"—my son, little man, boy, or if used by a young
woman, may mean my sweetheart.
"Nika tenas klootchman"—my little woman, daughter, girl, sweetheart.
"Nika tumtum"— I think; my thought, guess or opinion.
"Nika tumtum kahkwa"— I agree, I think so, I think like that, I approve.
NOSE ( E ) : Nose. Also used for a promontory, point of land, a spit, the bow
of a boat or canoe.
NOW'-IT-KA or naw-it-ka ( C ) : Yes, aye, assuredly, indeed.
"Nowitka, nika klatawa"— yes, I w i l l go.
"Nowitka, wake nika kumtux"— indeed, I do not know.
"Klonas nowitka"— probably so, perhaps so; yes, maybe.
"Wawa nowitka"— say yes, acquiesce, assent.
O
OK'-CHOCK ( J ) : Shoulders.
O'-KOKE ( C ) : This, that, these, those.
"Ikta okoke?"— what is that?
"Okoke klaksta"— he, who or that or these who.
"Okoke klaska"— they.
"Okoke mitlite"— that remaining, the remainder, that which is left.
"Okoke polaklie"— tonight, this night.
"Okoke sun"— today, this day.
O-KUS'-TEE ( C ) : A daughter.
"Nanitch, nika okustee"— look, my daughter.
O - L A L ' - L I E ( B B ) : Berries, fruit; originally, the salmon berry.
"Klale olallie"— blackberry.
"Pil olallie"— any red berry.
"Olallie chuck"— berry juice.
"Shot olallie"— huckleberries.
"Seahpo olallie"— raspberries.
O'-LA-PITS-KI(C):Fire.
OLE'-MAN ( E ) : An old man; old, worn out, anything that is old.
"Okoke kuitan yaka hyas oleman"— that horse he is very old.
"Okoke canim yaka hyas oleman"— that canoe it is worn out.
OL'-HI-YU (C): A seal.
O'-LO ( C ) : Hungry, hungry for.
"Olo chuck"— hungry for water, thirsty.
"Olo moosum"— sleepy, though "ticky moosum" is more often used,
meaning want sleep.
"Nika hyas olo alta"— I am very hungry now.
O'-LUK (S): A snake.
O'-NA ( C ) : Clam; clams. (This word especially applied to "razor" clams.)
OO'-A-HUT or wayhut ( C ) : A road, way, trail, path.
"Kah ooahut kopa Nisqually?"— where is the road to Nisqually?
"Ooahut kopa chuck"— a channel.
"Ooahut kopa town"— a street.
"Chuck ooahut"— to ford.
OO'-LA-CHAN ( C L ) : A type of smelt. Sometimes called candlefish.
OOL'-CHUS ( J ) : Herring; herrings.
OOS'-KAN: ( C ) : A cup; a bowl.
O'-PE-KWAN ( C ) : Basket; can, tin kettle.
O'-PITL-KEGH ( C ) : Bow, (kalitan-arrow.)
O-PIT'-SAH ( C ) : A knife; dagger.
(The table fork is sometimes called "opitsah sikhs," the "friend of the
knife." Opitsah sikhs is sometimes used to denote a lover—a fork to every
knife).
O-POOTS' or opootsh ( C ) : The rear end, the tail of an animal, the rudder
of a boat, the posterior, the back, the backside, anus.
"Boat opoots"— the boat's rudder.
"Opoots sill"— a breech clout.
"Humm opoots"— a skunk, a stinking tail.
O-QUAN'-AX ( C ) : The neck.
OTE'-LAGH ( C ) : The sun.
OU-WUCH'-EH ( C ) : A swan.
OW ( C ) : A brother (younger than the speaker).
"Kah mika ow?"— where is your (younger) brother?
"Elip ow"— an elder brother.
"Kahkwa ow"— like a brother, fraternal.
"Ow yaka klootchman"— brother his wife, a sister-in-law.
"Ow yaka tenas man"— brother his son, a nephew.
"Ow yaka tenas klootchman"— brother his daughter, a niece.
Such expressions fairly illustrate the order of words and the combinations
of words used to express definite things and relationships. They are essen-
tially Indian and not at all English. They originate with the Indian and
are the arrangements of words that are characteristic of most of the native
tongues.
CHINOOK-ENGLISH 91
P
PAHT'L (C): Full.
"Pahtlum"— drink; full of rum.
"Pahtl chuck"— wet; full of water.
"Pahtl illahee"- dirty.
"Mamook pahtl"— to fill or make full.
"Kwonesum yaka pahtlum"— he is always drunk; literally, always he full
of rum. (Note the arrangement of words.)
PAINT or pent ( E ) : Paint.
PAN ( F ) : Bread.
"Mamook le pan"— knead.
PAPA ( E ) : Papa or father.
"Nika nanitch yaka papa"— I see his father.
PA-SE'-SE ( C ) : A blanket, woolen cloth.
"Tzum pasese"— a quilt. (Tzum means colors, stripes, pictures, writing.)
"Yaka rnitlite kwinnum pasese"— he has five blankets.
PA-SI'-OOKS ( C ) : A Frenchman.
This Jargon word is derived from "pasese" and "uks." The latter, "uks," is
a plural applied to living beings, people. The Indians called the early whites
clothmen. The French, who were with the Hudson's Bay Company, came
to have the term applied to them only. Americans first came in ships from
Boston, and the early English came during the reign of George I I I . They
were known as Boston men and King Chautsh (George) men respectively,
while the original Chinook word for men who wore cloth clothes, "pasi-
ooks," was given to the French and became Jargon. A l l white men other
than Americans, English and French were called Dutchmen by the natives,
and it is still "Dutchman" in the Jargon.
P'-CHIH or pitchih ( J ) : Thin, as of a board.
PE ( F ) : And or but (occasionally means then, besides).
"Yaka pe nika klatawa"— he and I will go.
"Pe weght"— and also, and again.
"Pe kahta"— and why.
PE-CHUGH' ( C ) : Green.
PEL'-TON ( J ) : A fool, foolish, crazy, insane, an insane person.
It is supposed that the Indians adopted this term from the name of a de-
ranged person, one Archibald Pelton or Felton. Wilson Price Hunt was
said to have found this man in his travels and to have taken him to Astoria.
This was before Hudson's Bay days, when whites were still new to the
natives.
PEP'-AH ( E ) : Paper, a letter, a book — anything written or printed.
"Mamook pepah"— to write.
"Kumtux pepah"— to read.
"Kloshe mika mamook pepah kopa nika"— please you write a letter
for me.
"Saghalie tyee yaka pepah"— literally, God, his paper or book, the Bible.
92 CHINOOK: A HISTOBY A N D DICTIONARY
PE-SHAK' ( N ) : Bad; also occasionally danger. (Both "mesachie" and "cul-

tus" are used for bad, "mesachie" in the sense of wicked or evil and "cultus"
in the sense of no good or worthless.)
PE-WHAT'-TIE ( C ) : Thin (like paper).
PI'-AH ( E ) : Fire, blaze, flame, cooked, burned, ripe, mellow, or mature.
"Mamook piah"— make or build fire, cook, burn.
"Piah olallie"— ripe berries.
"Piah chuck"— fire water, whisky.
"Piah sapolil"— baked bread.
"Saghalie piah"— lightning, or literally fire above.
"Piah sick"— venereal disease, gonorrhea.
PIL ( C ) : Red, or of a reddish color.
"Pil chikamin"— gold money; also the metals gold, brass, copper.
"Pil illahee"— red earth, ochre.
"Pil kuitan"— a bay horse.
"Pil okchok"— (red shoulders) — the blackbird.
PIL'-PIL ( J ) : Blood.
"Hiyu pilpil chako"— much blood came.
"Mahsh pilpil"— to bleed, also to menstruate.
PISH ( E ) : Fish. (The Indian could not pronounce f. His nearest approach
was p. Hence pish for fish, and piah for fire.)
"Tenas pish"— minnow.
"Pishhook"— fishhook.
P I T - L I L L ' (J): Thick (like molasses).
PIU-PIU or pu-pu ( E ) : Stench, stink. (Probable imitation of sound of dis-
gust made over a bad smell. Piu-piu is an interjection. Humm is used in
sentences.)
POH ( C ) : A puff of breath; to blow.
"Mamook poh"— to blow out or extinguish, as a candle, or to fire a salute.
PO'-LAK-LIE ( C ) : Night, dark, darkness, gloom like night.
"Tenas polaklie"— evening.
"Hyas polaklie"— very late at night.
"Sitkum polaklie"— midnight, half a night.
"Alta polaklie chako"— now night has come.
"Kimta sitkum polaklie"— after midnight.
PO'-LAL-LIE ( J ) : Powder, gunpowder, dust, sand.
"Polallie illahee"— sandy ground.
POO (J): Imitation of the sound of a gun.
"Mamook poo"— to shoot.
"Mokst poo"— a double barrelled gun.
POO'-LIE ( F ) : Rotten.
"Poolie lapome" —a rotten apple.
POT'-LATCH ( N ) : A gift and to give. (When it denotes giving, it is a verb
and when it is used for the gift itself or for the celebration, it is a noun.)
The potlatch was a native festival common to all the tribes of the North-
CHINOOK-ENGLISH 93
west. Its feature was the distribution of gifts. The most noted chief was
he who held the largest potlatch and gave away the most valuable and
largest number of presents.
"Potlatch muckamuck"— to give food.
"Potlatch kloshe wawa"— give good talk, to congratulate, to give good
advice.
"Kloshe mika potlatch nika wawa kopa yaka"— a long roundabout way
of saying to intercede; literally, good you give me talk for him.
"Potlatch kopa saghalie tyee"— give to God, dedicate, consecrate.
"Potlatch wawa"— give talk or make a speech.
"Cultus potlatch"— a gift without prospect of recompense — a "bad gift"
in an Indian's view.
"Potlatch dolla"— pay, to pay.
POT'-SUK(C): Between.
POW'-IL (J): To swell.
POW'-ITSH ( C ) : The native thornapple or crabapple.
POWS ( J ) : Halibut.
PUK'-PUK ( J ) : A blow from the fist or a fist fight. (Another of the invented
words which are pure Jargon.)
"Mamook pukpuk"— to box.
"Pukpuk solleks"— to fight when angry.
PUSS'-PUSS ( E ) : A cat. (This is sometimes and in some localities pro-
nounced pishpish.)
"Hyas pusspuss"— a cougar or big cat.
S
SAG'-HA-LIE ( C ) : Up, above, heaven, sky, celestial, top, uppermost, over,
upwards. (This word is usually pronounced as if it were spelled sockalie
by the whites, and sag-ha-lie by the Indians, with the g sound deep in the
throat and a guttural rather than an aspirate h.)
"Mamook saghalie"—to lift (raise).
"Saghalie Tyee Yaka book"— the bible; literally, God, His book.
"Saghalie Tyee Yaka wawa"— a sermon or religious talk; literally, God,
His talk.
"Saghalie Tyee"— God, the Chief above, the ruler over all. (Saghalie
Tyee, for the Deity or Jehovah, is a term invented by the early mis-
sionaries as none of the tribes had a word for God. They had their
personal spirits but no universal Deity. Their first ideas of God
came from the teachings of these missionaries. Christ is called in
Jargon, "Saghalie Tyee Yaka tenas"— God, His Son.
SAIL ( E ) : Sail; any cotton or linen cloth.
"Mamook sail"— to make sail.
"Mamook keekwullie sail"— to take in sail.
"Tzum sail"— printed cloth like calico (as is "tzum pasese," which really
means quilt.)
"Snass sail"— oil cloth, rain cloth.
SAK'-O-LEKS ( C ) : Trousers, pants.

"Keekwullie sakoleks"— drawers, underpants.
"Klahanie sakoleks"— overalls.
SAL'-AL ( C ) : The salal shrub or its berries.
The salal is a beautiful evergreen shrub, growing abundantly along the
Pacific Coast, with edible dark-purple berries about the size of the common
grape. Before the coming of the white man, it was one of the most valued
native fruits, and was gathered in large quantities by the coastal tribes.
From it they made a sort of syrup, or dried and stored it in the form of
thick cakes.
SALT ( E ) : Salt or salty in taste.
"Salt chuck"— salt water, the sea.
"Salt chuck tupso"— sea weed.
SAM'-MON ( E ) : Salmon (but usually written sammon in the Jargon).
"Tyee sammon"— (specifically) the King salmon of northern sounds and
straits.
"Cultus sammon"— the kelts or spent salmon of the rivers in autumn and
winter.
Tzum sammon"— steelhead and other trouts.
SAN'-DE-LIE (F): Ash-colored.
SAP'-O-LIL ( C ) : Bread, wheat, grain, flour or meal.
"Piah sapolil"— baked bread.
"Hiyu sapolil"— much bread or flour.
SE'-AH-PO ( F ) : A hat or cap.
"Klootchman seahpo"— a woman's hat or bonnet.
SE-AT'-CO (Ch): A goblin or nocturnal demon, greatly feared by the Coast
Indians.
SEED ( E ) : Seed.
SEE'-O-WIST ( C ) : The eyes, the face, forehead.
"Halo seeowist"— blind.
"Ikt seeowist"— one-eyed.
"Lakit seeowist"— four eyes, spectacles.
"Dolla seeowist"— spectacles also, because the lenses are dollar shaped.
"Nika nanitch yaka kopa nika seeowist"— I saw him with my eyes.
"Chuck kopa seeowist"— tears, water of the eyes.
SE-LOKE'-MIL ( J ) : A window.
SHAN'-TIE ( F ) : To sing.
SHE'-LIP-O ( C ) : Freeze, frozen.
SHE-LOK'-UM ( C ) : Lookingglass, glass.
SHEM ( E ) : Shame. ( A n Indian attempt to say shame).
"Halo shem"— without shame, shameless.
"Halo shem mika?"— no shame you? aren't you ashamed?
"Mamook shem"— to deride or ridicule and make ashamed.
SHU'-GAH ( E ) : Sugar, honey, sweetening.
S H U G H ( C ) : A rattle.
SHUGH-O'-POOTS ( C ) : A rattlesnake, literally, the rear-end rattles.
CHINOOK-ENGLISH 95
SHUT ( E ) : A shirt.
SHWAH'-KUK (S): A frog.
SI-AH' ( N ) : Far, far off, away, afar, distant, remote.
John Jewitt recorded that the Nootkans also used siah for sky. To the
Nootkan the sky might have been just "the far off." For "very far off" the
word is sometimes repeated—siah-siah — but the usual method is to express
very great distance by prolonging the last syllable and saying si-a-h.
"Nika klatawa siah"— I w i l l go far off.
"Siah"— far.
"Delate siah"— a very great distance.
"Elip siah"— farther.
"Elip siah kopa konaway"— farther than all, farthest.
"Wake siah"— not far.
"Wake siah kopa"— almost or not far from.
SI-AM' (C): The grizzly bear. The grizzly is also called siam itswoot .
S I C K ( E ) : Sick.
"Sick tumtum"— sad, grieved.
"Mamook sick tumtum"— to hurt one's feelings.
"Sick kopa kwolan"— earache.
"Waum sick, cole sick"— fever and ague.
SIKHS or six ( C ) : A friend or companion and used only toward men.
"Klahowya sikhs"— how are you, friend?
"Opitsah sikhs"— fork or friend of the knife.
Sikhs is also used as an equivalent for sweetheart, for which term there
is no single word in Jargon. "Nika tenas klootchman" is used for sweet-
heart as well as for daughter.
SIL'-UP (E): Syrup.
SIN'-A-MOKST or sinamoxt ( C ) : Seven (the numeral).
SI'-PAH ( W ) : Straight, like a ramrod.
SIS'-KI-YOU ( C r ) : A bob-tailed horse.
SIT'-KUM ( C ) : Half, the middle.
"Sitkum siwash"— half Indian, a half-breed.
"Sitkum dolla"— half a dollar.
"Elip sitkum"— more than half.
"Tenas sitkum"— less than half.
"Sitkum sun"— moon.
"Elip sitkum sun"— forenoon.
S I T ' - L A Y ( F ) : Stirrup.
SIT'-SHUM (S): To swim.
SI'-WASH ( F ) : An Indian or aborigine, a savage. This is not a tribal name
as some uninformed writers have the impression when they erroneously
speak of "Siwash Indians."
"Okoke siwash klootchman"— that is an Indian woman.
"Hiyu siwash mitlite yukwa"— many Indians are here.
SKAD ( J ) : A mole.
SKET-SOT'-WA ( J ) : The Columbia river. This name was indicative of

the "lower" river.
SKIN ( E ) : Skin, hide, pelt, fur, leather.
"Skin shoes"— moccasins.
"Stick skin"— the bark of a tree.
SKOOKUM (S): Strong, powerful, potent. Originally, a ghost, evil spirit or
demon.
This is one of the best known, most widely used and significant words in the
Jargon. Its adoption by people of the Northwest has made of it a regional
English word. There are many Skookum brands of Northwest-made goods.
In fact, it is so common on the Pacific Coast as to have almost lost its
Indian significance.
"Skookum town"— city.
"Skookum tumtum"— a brave spirit.
"Skookum chuck"— rapids.
"Skookum house"— a jail.
SKWAK'-WAL (S): A lamprey eel.
SKWISS-KWIS ( J ) : The chipmunk or striped squirrel.
SLA-HAL' ( C ) : An Indian game (see la-hal).
SMET-OCKS (S): The large clam.
SMOKE ( E ) : Smoke, clouds, fog, steam.
SNASS ( J ) : Rain. A made word.
"Cole snass"— snow.
"Kull snass"— ice.
SOAP ( E ) : Soap.
SO-LE'-MIE ( C ) : The cranberry.
SOL'-LEKS (J): Anger, malice, hate, hatred, hostile, sulky, sullen, or any
meaning that relates to anger.
"Mamook solleks"— to make mad, to provoke anger, resent, offend.
"Halo solleks"— not angry, meek, mild, pleasant.
"Yaka solleks kopa mika"— he is mad at you.
"Solleks wawa"— a quarrel with words, quarrelsome or fighting talk.
"Hiyu solleks" or "Hyas solleks"— very angry.
"Solleks wawa"— grumble.
"Solleks tillikum"— a mob.
SO'-PE-NA ( C ) : To jump, hop, skip, spring.
SPO'-OH ( C ) : Faded; any fight color.
SPOON ( E ) : A spoon.
SPOSE (E): Suppose, supposing, if, that, in order that, for. (See klonas to
note the distinction between klonas and spose, which are sometimes con-
fused by the novice.)
"Kloshe spose"— good if.
"Kahkwa spose"— as if.
"Spose nika klootchman memaloose"— if my wife dies.
"Nika kwass nika klootchman klonas memaloose"— I fear my wife per-
haps will die.
,«
CHINOOK-ENGLISH 97
STICK ( E ) : A stick, a tree, pole, rod, wood.

"Stick skin"— hark.
"Ship stick"— a mast.
'Tkt stick"— a yard measure.
"Mitwhit stick"— a standing tree.
"Kull stick"—hardwood (oak).
"Isick stick"— paddle or oar wood (ash).
"Moos-moos stick"— goad.
STOCK'-EN ( E ) : Stocking, sock.
S T O H ( C ) : Loose.
"Mamook stoh"— to make loose, to loosen or untie, absolve.
"Mamook stoh kahmooks"— let loose the dogs.
STONE ( E ) : Stone or rock. Also signifies bone or horn.
"Stone kuitan"— a stallion.
STOTE'-KIN ( C ) : Eight (the numeral).
STUTCH'-IN ( E ) : Sturgeon. ( A n Indian attempt to pronounce the English
word.)
SUK-WAL'-WAL ( C ) : A gun.
SUN ( E ) : Sun, a day, the sun.
"Okoke sun"— today.
"Ikt sun"— first day, Monday.
"Mokst sun"— Tuesday.
"Tenas sun"— early in the day.
"Sitkum sun"— noon, a half day.
"Tahlkie sun"— yesterday.
" I k t tahlkie sun"— day before yesterday.
"Elip sitkum sun"— before noon.
"Kimta sitkum sun"— after noon.
"Sun yaka waum alta"— the sun is warm now.
"Sun chako"— daybreak.
SUNDAY ( E ) : Sunday.
"Hyas Sunday"— a holiday.
" I k t Sunday"— a week.
TAGH'-UM ( C ) : Six (the numeral).

T A H ( C ) : A spirit or supernatural thing or person.
T A H L ' - K I E ( C ) : Yesterday.
"Yaka chako tahlkie"— he came yesterday.
"Tahlkie moon"— last month.
"Tahlkie waum illahee"— last summer.
"Tahlkie cole illahee"— last winter.
TAH-MAH'-NA-WIS ( C ) : A guardian or familiar spirit in its personal
application. Every Indian had his tahmahnawis.
Tahmahnawis also means magic, ghost, spirit, or anything supernatural,
and is used as the equivalent of luck, fortune and kindred words. It was
applied to anything the Indians could not readily understand.

"Mamook tahmahnawis"— conjure, make magic.
"Masachie tahmahnawis"— evil spirits, witchcraft.
"Klale tahmahnawis"— black magic, the devil, literally, dark or black
spirit. The word is used as a noun, a verb or as an adjective according
to whether it means a spirit is invoking the supernatural, or is ascrib-
ing magic powers either to men or to some object used as a charm.
TAH'-NESS ( C ) : Knee.
T A H ' - N I M (S): To measure.
T A H T ' - L U M ( C ) : Ten (the numeral).
TAL'-A-PUS ( C ) : The coyote or prairie wolf. (The coyote is prominent in
Indian mythology, which regards the creature as being of supernatural
powers.)
"Hyas opoots talapus"— the fox; literally, big-tail coyote.
TAL'-IS ( C ) : Dear, beloved.
TA-MO'-LITSH ( C ) : A tub, bucket, barrel, cask, or keg.
"Ikt tamolitsh"— a bushel.
"Chuck mitlite kopa tamolitsh"— water is in the barrel or keg.
TA-NF-NO ( C ) : Crevasse, canyon, the vulva.
TANSE ( E ) : Dance.
TA-TOOSH' ( C ) : The breasts of a female, milk, udder, bosom, teats.
"Kloshe tatoosh"— cream.
"Tatoosh glease or Iakles"— butter. (The words glease and lakles are
from the English and French respectively. However, glease, for grease,
fat or oil, is more commonly used than lakles.)
"Kull tatoosh"— cheese.
Tatoosh is the name of a range of mountains near Mount Rainier and it is
also the name of an island off Cape Flattery.
TEA ( E ) : Tea.
TE-AH'-WIT ( C ) : The leg or foot.
"Klatawa teahwit"— to walk, go on foot.
"Klook teahwit"— lame, crooked leg (Klook was the Indian attempt to
say the English word crooked).
TEH-TEH ( C ) : To trot, as a horse.
TEL'-E-MIN (J): Ribs.
TEN'-AS ( N ) : Small, few, little, a little, pretty, slight, a child, the young
of an animal.
"Tenas snow chako"— little snow has come.
"Chako tenas"— to grow less, to decrease, diminish; literally, come
small. "Mamook tenas" is another way of expressing the same idea,
"Hyas tenas"— very small.
"Tenas hiyu"— little much, some, several, a few.
"Tenas ahnkuttie"— recently, not very long ago, literally, small time ago.
"Chik-chik kopa tenas"— a baby carriage or wagon for a child.
"Tenas polaklie"— evening.
CHINOOK-ENGLISH 99
"Tenas yaka tenas"— a grandchild.

"Tenas house"— hut.
TEN'-TOME ( C h ) : Navel.
TE-PEH' ( C ) : Quill, wing.
TICK'-Y ( C ) : To want or desire, wish, be eager for, choose, pick, like, love.
Also, it is used to express what one should want to do.
"Mika ticky muckamuck mika lametsin"— you should or must take your
medicine.
"Ikta mika ticky?"— what do you want?
"Hyas ticky"— to long for 01 desire deeply.
"Delate halo ticky"— very much not like; therefore, to detest or dislike.
"Ticky kumtux"— want to know, to inquire.
T I K ' - T I K ( J ) : A watch (imitation of the sound).
T I L L (J): Tired, heavy,fatigue, weight,weigh.
"Kunsih till okoke?"— how much does that weigh?
"Mamook till"— to weigh. Also to make tired or heavy with fatigue.
"Wake till"— not heavy, light.
"Nika hyas till"— I am very tired.
T I L ' - L I - K U M ( C ) : People, population, persons, tribe, nation, folks, friends,
associates, relations, kin. ( I t usually means those who are not chiefs—the
people, any people.)
"Nika tillikum"— my people.
"Yaka tillikum"— his people. ( I t is also used with a final s for the plural,
although it was not originally so.)
"Yaka klatawa kopa yaka tillikums"— he has gone to his people.
"Nesika tillikums"— our people.
"Ahnkuttie tillikums"— former people, ancestors, forefathers.
"Huloima tillikums"— strangers, different people from our people.
"Hiyu tillikums"— a crowd, many people.
T I N ' - T I N (J): A bell, the strike of an hour, a musical instrument, any musi-
cal instrument, music (imitation of the sound.)
"Mamook tintin"— to ring a bell, to make sounds on a musical instrument.
"Kunsih tintin alta?"— what time is it now?
"Ikt tintin"— one hour.
T-KOPE' ( C ) : White or light colored.
"T'kope tillikums"— white people.
"Okoke pishpish yaka t'kope"— that cat is white.
(Also T'kopet. The latter is used as well as T'kope.) *
T L A K ' - T L A K ( J ) : Grasshopper.
TLE-PAIT' ( C ) : Nerve; nerves.
TL-KOPE' ( C ) : To cut, hew or chop.
T O H ( J ) : To spit. (A manufactured word.)
TOKE-TIE (Gal): Pretty.
"Hyas toketie kulla kulla"— a very pretty bird.
"Toketie tenas"— a good child.
TO'-LO (Cal): To earn, to gain, to win, prevail, control, convince, overcome,
subdue, subject, defeat, triumph, manage, succeed, conquer.
"Kunsih dolla nika tolo spose nika mamook?"— how many dollars will I
earn if I work?
"Wawa pe tolo"— to persuade.
"Nika tolo yaka"— I prevailed over him, I beat him, won over him.
TO'-LUKS (Clal): The mussel.
TO-MOL'-LA ( E ) : Tomorrow.
"Ikt tomolla" or "Kopet tomolla"— day after tomorrow.
TOPE'-CHIN ( J ) : A patch; to patch.
TOT (S): Uncle.
TO'-TO ( C ) : To shake, sift, winnow.
TO-WAGH' or te-wagh ( C ) : Bright, shining, light; dayhght, light of a lamp
or fire.
TO'-WAH ( C ) : The nails, (fingernails and toenails).
TPISH'-KUKS ( C ) : Flounder (fish).
T - S A K ' ( C ) : To stanch.
"Mamook tsak"— to stanch a wound.
T S A ' - L I L ( C ) : A lake.
T-SEE' ( C ) : Sweet.
TSEE'-PE (Cal): To miss a mark, to mistake one's road, to make a mistake
in speaking; to err, delude, blunder, or deceive, false, illusive, deceitful.
"Tseepe ooahut"— to take a wrong road.
"Tseepe mamook"— a trick, done deceitfully.
"Mamook tseepe"— to do deceitfully, to fool or delude.
"Tseepe wawa"— to mispronounce.
TSHI'-KE ( C ) : Directly, soon.
T-SHISH' ( C ) : Cold.
"Hiyu tshish okoke sun"— it is very cold today.
TSI-'A-LITS ( C ) : A branch.
TSI-AT'-KO (S): A night-roving demon much feared by all the still super-
stitious Indians.
TSIK'-TSIK ( J ) : A wagon or cart. (see chik-chik.)
T-SISH' ( J ) : Imitation of the sound of a grindstone.
TSOLE'-PAT ( K ) : A shotpouch.
TSO'-LO (Cal): To wander; to lose the way.
T-SUGH' ( C ) : A crack or split.
"Mamook tsugh"— split.
"Chako tsugh"— to become split or cracked.
"Mamook tsugh illahee"— to plow the ground.
TUK-A-MO'-NUK ( C ) : A hundred.
T U K ' - W I L - L A (Cal): Nuts; the hazel nut.
TUM'-TUM (J): The heart, the will, opinion, belief, mind, memory, thought,
purpose, intention, plan, etc.
(A widely used and variously employed word, one of the most expressive
CHINOOK-ENGLISH 101
in the Jargon, almost wholly used subjectively. Supposed to be a manufac-
tured word made to imitate the sound of the heart beat.)
"Mahsh tumtum"— to give orders.
"Mamook tumtum"— to make up one's mind, to think, plan or decide.
"Sick tumtum"— grief.
"Mokst tumtum nika"— undecided, two minds have I.
"Halo tumtum"— without a w i l l or an opinion.
"Skookum tumtum"— bold, brave, strong heart, indomitable.
"Ikta mika tumtum?"— what do you think?
"Mika tumtum"— as you please.
"Kahkwa nika tumtum"— as I think, or like I think.
"He-he tumtum"— jolly.
TUM'-WA-TA (J&E): A waterfall (part imitation and part English, see
tumtum).
TUP'-SHIN (S): A needle.
TUP'-SO ( C ) : Grass, leaf or leaves, fringe, fur, feathers, hair, beard.
"Kloshe tupso"— flowers.
"Tupso illahee"— prairie or grassy country.
"Tupso kopa latet"— hair.
T - W A H ' (J): Shining, bright (towagh).
TY-EE' ( N ) : A chief, only, in the old days, now a chief, a superior, a boss,
an officer, a master, a gentleman, a foreman, a manager, anything superior.
"Saghalie Tyee"- God.
"Tyee sammon"— the largest variety of salmon in any given locality.
"Kahkwa tyee"— kingly, like a king.
"Tyee kopa Washington"— the president of the United States.
"Klootchman tyee or tyee klootchman"— the matron of an Indian school.
T Z U M ( C ) : Mixed colors, spots, stripes, marks, figures, colors, printing, pic-
tures, paint, painted, ornamental (gay colors).
"Mamook tzum"— to write, draw, paint, dye, mark.
"Tzum illahee"— surveyed land.
"Tzum stick"— a pencil or brush for marking.
"Tzum seeowist"— photograph.
"Klale chuck kopa mamook tzum"— ink; literally, black water to make
marks.
"Tzum sammon"— trout.
U
U-AL'-TEE ( C ) : Joy; gladness.
UL-A-LACH' ( K ) : Wild onion; onion.
UL'-CHEY ( C ) : The moose.
UL'-KEN or oo'-la-chan ( C I ) : A type of smelt.
W
W A G H ( C ) : To spill, to vomit, to pour.
"Mamook wagh chuck"— pour some water.
WAKE ( N ) : No, not, none. (See halo—these terms are both used for the
same meanings and purpose, and apparently without distinction, wake be-
ing without doubt the older form.)
"Nika wake kumtux"— I do not understand.
"Wake siah"— not far.
"Wake kloshe"— no good, not good.
"Wake hiyu"— not many, a few.
"Wake skookum"— not strong, weak, infirm, feeble.
"Wake kloshe kopa mahkook"— not good to sell, unsalable.
WAP'-PA-TO (J): The potato. ( I n earlier times the root of the Sagittaria
latifolia, a native plant much esteemed by the natives and one of their reg-
ular sources of food supply. After the introduction of the potato the latter
was called wappato and the former was known as siwash wappato, or In-
dian potato.)
W A U M ( E ) : Warm (Indian attempt to say warm).
"Okoke sun yaka waum"— that sun it is warm, or today is warm, though
for the latter the expression is usually inverted as: "Yaka waum okoke
sun."
"Hyas waum" —hot.
"Waum sick, cole sick"— fever and ague.
WASH ( E ) : Wash.
"Mamook wash"— to wash.
"Iskum wash"— to get washed, to be baptized.
WA'-WA ( C ) : Speech, to talk, call, converse, conversation, sermon, story,
tale, speak, declaim, voice, articulate. ( I t is anything that has to do with
speech, whether written, printed or articulated.)
"Ikta mika w a w a f - what did you say?
"Delate wawa"— truth, fact, to promise.
"Hiyu wawa"— much talk, clamor, argument.
"Mahsh wawa"— to command or give orders.
"Killapi wawa"— to answer or reply.
"Kloshe wawa"— good talk, a proverb.
"Cultus wawa"— idle talk, jabber.
"Wawa kloshe"— to bless.
"Hyas wawa"— loud talk, boast, shout.
"Wawa halo"— to deny.
"Wawa kliminawhit"— to lie, untruthful statements.
"Wawa kopa Saghalie Tyee"— to pray or talk to God.
"Skookum wawa"— harangue.
WAY'-HUT ( C ) : A road or trail (see ooahut).
WE-CO'-MA ( C ) : The sea.
WEGHT or wekt ( C ) : Again, also, more.
"Pe nika weght"— and I also.
"Weght nika klatawa"— again I go.
"Tenas weght"— a little more.
CHINOOK-ENGLISH 103
W H I M ( N ) : Fallen; to fell.
"Whim stick"— a fallen tree.
"Mamook whim okoke stick"— fell this tree.
WIN'-A-PEE ( N ) : By-and-by, presently. (Alki is more commonly in use.)
W I N D ( E ) : Wind; breath.
"Halo wind"— out of breath, dead.
"Skookum wind"— gale.
W I T ' - K A ( C ) : Now, at present time.
WOOT'-LAT ( C ) : A phallus. (Often represented in carved pestles. Natural
pillars and towers of basalt were sometimes called "Wootlat," and vener-
ated. Rooster Rock was a notable wootlat.)
Y
Y A H ' - H U L ( C ) : A name.
YAH'-WA ( C ) : There, in that place, beyond, in that direction, yonder.
"Yaka mitlite yahwa"— he is there.
"Wake siah yahwa"— not far from there or thereabouts.
"Ikt yahwa, ikt yahwa"— one there, one there; apart, separated.
YA'-KA ( C ) : He, his, him, she, her, hers, it, its (anything pertaining to the
third person, singular, all cases).
"Nika klook yaka teahwit"— my foot it is lame.
"Okoke kuitan yaka tkope"— the horse it is white.
"Yaka klatawa"— he has gone.
"Nanitch yaka"— see him.
Y A K ' - A - L A ( C ) : Eagle.
YAK'-KIS-ILTH ( C ) : Sharp, cutting.
YAK'-SO(C):Hair.
"Kuitan yakso"— mane.
YA-KWAH'-TIN ( C ) : The belly, stomach, bosom.
"Keekwullie yakwahtin"— the entrails, within the belly.
"Yaka sick kopa yaka yakwahtin"—he is sick in the stomach; has the
stomachache.
YI'-EM (S): A tale or story, to relate a tale, to confess to a priest. (see wawa,
which was more commonly used.)
YOOTS ( C ) : To sit.
YOTL ( C h ) : Glad, pleased, proud, spirited.
"Hyas yotl tumtum" or "Yaka tumtum delate kloshe"— his heart is very
glad.
YOTL'-KUT ( C ) : Long (in dimension), length.
"Okoke stick hyas yotlkut"— this stick is very long.
YOT'-SKUT ( C ) : Short.
"Yotskut capo"— jacket.
YUK'-WA ( C ) : Here, this way, this side.
"Chako yukwa"— come here.
"Yukwa kopa okoke house"— this side of that house.
ENGLISH-CHINOOK
A
ABASE — mamook keekwullie.
ABDOMEN — yakwahtin; kwahtin.
ABED - kopa bed.
ABIDE - mitlite.
ABJECT - cultus.
ABLE — skookum.
ABOARD — kopa boat (or ship or canim).
ABOLISH - mamook halo.
ABORIGINE - siwash.
ABOUND - hiyu mitlite.
ABOUT — wake siah kopa.
ABOVE - saghalie.
ABSCOND - kapswolla, klatawa.
ABSENT - halo mitlite.
ABSOLVE — mamook stoh; mamook mahsh.
ACCEPT - iskum.
ACCIDENT — nika tumtum halo yaka chako kahkwa.
ACCOMPANY — klatawa kunamokst; chako kunamokst.
ACCOMPLISH - mamook.
ACCORDING TO - kopa.
ACCUMULATE - iskum hiyu.
ACCURATE - delate.
ACHIEVE - mamook.
ACKNOWLEDGE - wawa nowitka.
ACORN, ACORNS - kahnaway.
ACQUAINT - mamook kumtux.
ACQUIRE - iskum.
ACROSS - enati; inati.
ACT, ACTION - mamook.
A C T I V E - delate halo lazy.
A D D — mahsh kunamokst.
ADJOIN — wake siah kopa.
ADMIRE — mitlite kloshe tumtum kopa.
ADMONISH - potlatch kloshe wawa.
ADORE — mitlite delate kloshe tumtum kopa; atole.
ADORN — mamook kloshe.
ADRIFT — cultus mitlite kopa chuck.
104
ENGLISH-CHINOOK 105
ADULTERATE — mamook mesachie; mahsh mesachie kunamokst.

ADULTERER — man yaka kumtux kapswolla klootchman,
ADULTERESS — klootchman yaka kumtux kapswolla man.
ADVICE, ADVISE - cultus potlatch tumtum.
AFAR - siah.
A F F I R M - wawa delate.
A F F L I C T — mamook trouble; mamook sick tumtum.
AFOOT - kopa lepee.
AFRAID - kwass.
AFTER, AFTERWARDS - kimtah.
AFTERNOON - kimtah sitkum sun.
AGAIN - weght.
AGED — oleman.
AGREE — tumtum kunamokst.
AGROUND - kopa illahee.
AGUE - cole sick.
A H ! (ADMIRATION) - wah! hah!
AH! ( I N P A I N ) - a n a h !
AHEAD - elip.
A I D , HELP - elan, elahan.
A I D , TO — mamook elan.
A L A R M — mamook kwass.
ALDER — isick stick. Literally "paddlewood."
A L I K E - kahkwa.
A L I V E - mitlite wind.
A L L — konaway.
ALMIGHTY, T H E - Saghalie Tyee.
ALMOST - wake siah.
ALMS — elan, or elahan.
ALMS, TO GIVE — mamook klahowyum, or klahowya; podatch dolla.
ALOFT — kopa saghalie.
ALONE - kopet ikt.
ALSO - weght.
ALTER — mamook huloima.
A L T H O U G H - keschi.
ALWAYS — kwonesum.
AM — midite is sometimes used; sometimes no word is used.
A M E N — kloshe kahkwa.
AMERICAN - Hoston man.
A M I D , AMONG - kunamokst; katsuk.
AMOUNT - konaway.
AMUSE — mamook hehe.
AMUSEMENT - hehe.
ANCIENT - hyas ahnkuttie.
AND - pe.
ANGER, ANGRY - solleks.
106 CHINOOK: A HISTOBY A N D DICTIONABY
ANGLER - pish man.

A N N U A L - ikt cole ikt cole.
ANOTHER - huloima.
ANSWER - killapi wawa.
ANTICIPATE - mamook tumtum elip.
ANUS - opoots.
ANXIOUS - hyas ticky.
ANY-klaksta.
APART — ikt yahwa, ikt yahwa.
APPEAL — wawa kopa elip hyas court.
APPEAR — chako kah (nika) nanitch.
APPLE — lapome; apple.
APPLY — (if in words) wawa; (if of things) mahsh.
APPROACH - chako wake siah.
APPROVE - (nika) tumtum kahkwa.
APRON - kissu; kehsu.
ARCTIC — kah delate hiyu cole mitlite.
ARDENT — waum tumtum.
ARGUE — hiyu wawa.
ARGUMENT — mamook hiyu; mamook hyas.
ARISE - mitwhit.
ARITHMETIC — book yaka mamook kumtux nesika kopa kwunnum; ma-
mook tzum.
ARM — lamah.
ARM, TO — iskum musket.
AROUND — wake siah kopa.
AROUSE — mamook get up.
ARREST — mamook haul; mamook kow.
ARRIVE, ARRIVE AT - ko; chako; klap.
ARROW - kalitan; stick kalitan.
AS — kahkwa.
AS IF — kahkwa spose.
ASCEND - klatawa saghalie.
ASH — isick stick.
ASK — wawa.
ASLEEP — moosum.
ASSEMBLE - chako kunamokst.
ASSENT — wawa nowitka.
ASSESS — mamook tzum iktas.
ASSISTANCE - elahan; help.
AT — kopa.
A T T A C K - p i g h t elip.
A T T E N D - klatawa.
ATTIRE - iktas.
AUDIENCE — hiyu tillikums kopa house.
AUNT — kwalh; papa or mama yaka ats; tant.
A U T U M N - tenas cole illahee.
ENGLISH-CHINOOK 107
AVERSE - halo ticky.
A V I D I T Y -hyastieky.
AVOID — klatawa kopa huloima ooahut.
AWAKE — halo moosum; halo sleep.
AWAY - siah.
AWE — kwass.
A W L (shoemaker's) — shoes keepwot, or kipuet.
AXE - lahash.
AYE — nowitka.
B
BABY - tenas.
BACK - emeek.
B A D — mesachie; peshak; cultus.
BAD SPIRIT — mesachie tumtum (if in person); mesachie tahmahnawis (if
another spirit).
BAG - lesak.
B A L L - lebal.
BARGAIN — mahkook; huyhuy.
BARK - stickskin.
BARK (dog's) — kahmooks wawa.
BARLEY - lashey; larch.
BARREL - tamolitsh.
BARTER - huyhuy.
BASIN - ketling.
BASKET - opekwan.
BAT — polaklie kalakala.
BATH — mamook wash.
BATTLE - pight.
BE — sometimes mitlite is used, sometimes no word is used.
BE STILL - kopet wawa.
BEACH — nauits; polallie illahee.
BEADS - kamosuk.
BEAR (black) — itchwoot; chetwoot; itswoot.
BEAR (grizzly) — siam; siamitchwoot.
BEAR, TO - lolo.
BEARD - tupso.
BEARER — man yaka kumtux lolo.
BEAT, TO - kokshut; mamook kokshut.
B E A U T I F U L - kloshe.
BEAVER - eena.
BECALM - halo wind.
BECAUSE - kahkwa; kehwa.
BECOME, TO - chako.
BECOME HARD - chako kull.
BED - bed.
BED Q U I L T - tzum pasese.
BEEF - itlwillie.
BEFORE - elip.
BEG — skookum wawa.
BEGIN — chee mamook; mamook elip.
BEGONE - klatawa.
BEHAVE - mamook kloshe.
B E H I N D - kimtah.
BEHOLD - nah; nanitch.
BELIEVE — iskum wawa; iskum kopa tumtum.
B E L L — tintin; dingding; ring the bell, mamook tintin.
B E L L E — kloshe tenas klootchman.
BELLY - yakwahtin.
BELOVED — kloshe; kloshe kopa tumtum.
BELOW - keekwullie.
B E L T - lasanshel.
BENEATH - keekwullie.
B E N E F I T - (v.) mamook kloshe.
BERRIES - olallie; olillie.
BESIDE, BESIDES - kunamokst.
BEST — elip kloshe kopa konoway.
BETTER - elip kloshe.
BETWEEN - kunamokst; katsuk; potsuk.
BEYOND - yahwa.
BIBLE — saghalie tyee yaka book.
BIG - hyas.
BIRD - kalakala; kulakula.
BISCUIT — lebiskwee, or labisquee.
BIT or D I M E - bit.
BITE — muckamuck.
BITTER - k l i k l ; klile.
BLACK - k l a l e .
BLACKBERRIES - klale olallie; klikamuks.
BLACKBIRD - pil okchok.
BLACKFISH - klale pish.
BLANKET - pasese.
BLEED — mamook pilpil.
BLESS, TO - wawa kloshe.
BLESSING - kloshe wawa.
B L I N D — halo seeowist; halo nanitch.
BLOOD - pilpil.
BLOW, TO — wind chako; hiyu wind.
BLOW OUT - mamook poh.
BLUE ( L I G H T ) - spooh.
BLUE ( D A R K ) - k l a l e .
BLUNDER, TO - tseepe.
ENGLISH-CHINOOK 109
BLUSH — chako pil kopa yaka seeowist.
BOARD - laplash.
BOAST — hyas wawa; skookum wawa.
BOAT - boat.
BOBTAILED - (a bob-tailed horse) siskiyou.
BOIL, TO — liplip; mamook hplip.
BOLD, BOLDNESS - skookum tumtum; halo kwass.
BONE - stone.
BOOK - book.
BOOTS - stick shoes.
BORE, TO — mamook thalwhop; mamook hole.
BORROW, TO - iskum dolla, alki pay.
BOSOM — (female) tatoosh; yahwahtin.
BOSS - tyee.
BOSTON - American.
BOTH — kunamokst; mokst.
BOTTLE - labootai.
BOW — opitlkegh; stick musket.
B O W - (of boat) nose.
BOWELS - kiyah.
BOWL — ooskan; uskan.
BOX - lacaset.
BOX, TO (fight) - mamook pukpuk.
BOY — tenas man.
BRACELET - klikwallie; kweokweo.
BRANCH - tsialits.
BRASS — pil chikamin; klikwallie.
BRAVE — skookum tumtum.
BREAD — lepan; sapolil; piah sapolil (baked bread).
BREAK, TO — kokshut; mamook kokshut; mamook klimmin.
BREAKFAST — muckamuck kopa tenas sun.
BREAST, T H E CHEST - emih.
BREASTS - tatoosh.
BREATH - wind.
BREECH CLOUT - opoots sail.
BRIDE — klootchman yaka chee mallie.
BRIDEGROOM - man yaka chee mallie.
BRIDLE - lableed.
BRIGHT - towagh; tewagh.
BRING, TO — lolo; mamook chako; newah.
BRITISH - King Chautsh (George) (kinchautsh).
BROAD - klukulh.
BROKEN LEGGED - kokshut Iepee.
BROOK — tenas chuck; tenas cooley chuck.
BROOM - bloom.
BROTHER — kahpho; elip ow (if older than the speaker); kimtah ow ( i f

younger). Male cousins the same.
BROTHER-IN-LAW — ats yaka man; klootchman yaka ow; ekkeh.
BROWN - sitkum klale; tenas klale; klale.
BUCK — man mowitch.
BUCKET - tamolitsh.
BUFFALO — moosmoos; wild moosmoos.
B U I L D — mamook house.
BUILDER - laplash man.
B U L L — man moosmoos.
B U L L E T — lebal; kalitan; musket yaka ball.
B U N D L E - kow; iktas.
BURN — mamook piah.
BURST - kokshut.
BURY — mahsh kopa illahee.
BUSHEL (bushel basket) - ikt tamolitsh.
BUT-pe.
BUTCHER — man yaka kumtux mamook memaloose moosmoos.
BUTTER - tatoosh glease; tatoosh lakles.
BUTTONS - chilchil; tsiltsil.
BUY, TO - mahkook.
BY — wake siah kopa; kopa.
BY-AND-BY - winapee; alki.
C
CALF — tenas moosmoos.
CALICO — tzum sail; sail.
CALL, TO - wawa.
C A L M — halo wind.
CAMAS — camas, kamass.
CAN — skookum kopa.
CANDLE — lashandel; glease piah.
CANNOT — halo skookum kopa; howkwutl.
CANOE - canim.
CANYON - tanino.
CAP — seahpo.
CAPABLE — skookum kopa; skookum tumtum.
CAPSIZE - killapi; keellapie.
CAPTIVE - elitee.
CAPTURE - mamook kow.
CAR (railroad) — piah chikchik.
CAREFUL - kloshe nanitch.
CARELESS - cultus; halo kloshe nanitch.
CARPENTER - laplash man.
CARRION - humm itlwillie.
CARROT - lacalat.
ENGLISH-CHINOOK 111
CARRY, TO - lolo.
CART - chikchik.
CARVE — mamook cut.
CASCADE - tumwata.
CASH — dolla; chikamin.
CASK - tamolitsh.
CAT — pusspuss.
CATARACT - tumwata.
CATCH — iskum; mamook kwutl.
CATTLE - moosmoos.
CAUTIOUS, TO RE - kloshe nanitch.
CEASE - kopet.
CEDAR — canim stick; lametsin stick; kalakwahtee.
CEDAR BARK (inside) - kalakwahtee.
CELESTIAL - kopa saghalie.
CELLAR - ketwilla.
CEMETERY - memaloose illahee.
CENTER - katsuk.
CERTAIN - delate.
CERTAINLY - nowitka.
C H A I N — lashen; chikamin lope.
CHAIR - lashase.
CHANCE — nika tumtum halo yaka chako kahkwa.
CHANGE — huyhuy; mamook huyhuy.
C H A N N E L - ooahut.
CHEAP — wake hyas mahkook.
CHEAT, TO - lalah; mamook pelton.
CHEATED, (I am) - nika chako pelton.
CHEEKS — seeowist, capala.
CHEER — hiyu kloshe wawa.
CHEESE - kull tatoosh.
CHICKEN - lapool.
CHIEF - tyee.
C H I L D - tenas.
C H I L L Y - tenas cole.
CHIMNEY - lasheminay.
C H I N — makeson.
CHOOSE - elip ticky.
CHOP, TO - tlkope.
CHRISTMAS - hyas Sunday; klismes.
CIDER — chuck lapome.
CIRCLE - kweokweo.
CITY — skookum town.
C L A M , TO—mamook ona (razor clams); mamook lukutchee, or tukutchee,
or tukwitchee (little neck clams); mamook smetocks (the large, round
clams of Puget Sound and the northern coasts).
CLAMS — ona; tukutchee; tukwitchee; clams (smetocks the large kind).

CLAY — klimmin illahee.
CLEAN — halo illahee; mamook clean.
CLEAN, TO — mamook clean.
CLEAR - klah.
CLEAR UP, TO - chako klah.
CLERK — tzum man.
CLIMB — klatawa saghalie.
CLOCK - hyas tiktik.
CLOSE — mamook ikpooie.
CLOTH— (cotton or linen) sail or sill; (woolen) pasese.
CLOTHES - iktas.
CLOUDS — smoke; smoke kopa saghalie; cultus smoke.
COAST — illahee wake siah kopa chuck.
COAT — capo; kapo.
COFFEE - kaupy.
COLD — cole; chis.
COLOR — tzum; chym.
COMB - comb.
COMB, TO - mamook comb.
COME, TO - chako; newhah.
COME OUT OF T H E WATER - chako klahanie kopa chuck.
COMMAND - law.
COMMAND, TO - mahsh wawa.
COMMANDMENTS - saghalie tyee law.
COMMENCE — mamook begin; chee mamook.
COMMON — kloshe kopa konaway; cultus.
COMMUNION — Jesus yaka muckamuck.
COMPLETE - mamook kopet.
CONCEAL - ipsoot.
CONCEIVE - klap tenas.
CONCEIVE (in mind) — mamook tumtum.
CONCUR - tumtum kahkwa.
CONFESS, TO - yiem; wawa.
CONGREGATE - chako; klatawa kunamokst.
CONJURE, CONJURER - siwash doctin; tahmahnawis man.
CONJURING — tahmahnawis; mamook tahmahnawis.
CONQUER, TO - tolo.
CONSCIENCE - tumtum.
CONSECRATE - potlatch kopa saghalie tyee.
CONTENTED - mitlite kloshe tumtum.
CONVERSATION - CONVERSE - wawa.
COOK — mamook piah; mamook piah muckamuck.
COOKED - chako piah.
COOL, TO - mamook cole.
COPPER - pil chikamin.
ENGLISH-CHINOOK 113
COPY — mamook tzum.
CORD — tenas lope; lope.
CORK, TO - ikpooie.
CORN - esalth.
CORRAL - kullah; kullaghan.
CORRECT - delate.
COST (how much) — kunsih dolla?
COTTON, GOODS - sail.
COUGAR — hyas pusspuss.
COUGH, TO COUGH - hohhoh.
COUNSEL — cultus potlatch tumtum.
COUNT — mamook kwunnum; mamook kunsih; mamook tahnim.
COUNTRY - illahee.
COUPLE - mokst.
COURAGE — skookum tumtum.
COUSIN - kahpho.
COVER — mahsh ikta kopa saghalie.
COVET - ticky kapswolla.
COW — klootchman moosmoos.
COWARD — halo skookum tumtum; kwass man.
COYOTE - talapus.
CRABAPPLE — powitsh; siwash apple.
CRACK - tsugh.
CRANBERRY - solemie; swamp olallie; pil olallie.
CRANE - kelok.
CRAZY - pelton.
CREAM - kloshe tatoosh.
CREAM, CREAM-COLORED - leclem.
CREATOR - saghalie tyee.
CREEK - tenas chuck.
CREEK — tenas cooley.
CROOKED — kiwa; tseepe; klooked; wake delate.
CROSS, A - lacloa.
CROW - kahkah.
CROWD - hiyu tillikums.
CRY, TO - cly.
CUP — ooskan; cup; lepot.
CURE — mamook kloshe.
CURED - chako kloshe.
CURLY - hunlkih.
CURRANT - pil olallie; culant.
CURRENCY - pepah dolla.
CURSE — mesachie wawa.
CURSE, TO - wawa mesachie.
CUT, TO - tlkope; mamook cut.
D
DAGGER - opitsah.
DANCE, TO - tanse.
DANGER - mesachie mitlite.
DARK, DARKNESS - polaklie.
DARKEN — mamook polaklie.
DASH, TO - mahsh.
DAUGHTER - tenas klootchman, okustee.
D A W N — delate tenas sun; ehee chako light.
DAY - sun.
DAYBREAK - sun chako.
DAYLIGHT-towagh.
D E A D — memaloose; mahsh konaway yaka wind; yaka wind chako halo,
attain.
DEAF — ikpooie kwolan; halo kwolan.
DEAFEN — mamook halo kwolan.
DEAF MUTE - halo kwolan halo wawa.
DEAR (expensive) — hyas mahkook.
DEAR (loved) -kloshe.
DEBATE - pight wawa.
DECEIT — kliminawhit wawa.
DECEIVE — wawa kliminawhit mamook lalah.
DECIDE — mamook tumtum; klap tumtum.
DECISION - tumtum.
D E C L I N E - wawa halo.
DECREASE - chako tenas.
DEED — mamook.
DEEP — klip; hyas keekwullie.
DEER - mowitch.
DEFEAT, TO - tolo.
DEFEND - kloshe nanitch.
DEFER — mamook alki; mamook byby.
DEFORMED - wake delate.
DEITY - saghalie tyee.
D E L I G H T - kloshe tumtum.
D E L I G H T E D - mitlite; chako kloshe tumtum.
DELIRIOUS - huloima latate; kahkwa clazy.
D E L U D E — mamook tseepe.
DELUGE - hyas chuck.
D E M A N D — wawa; skookum wawa.
D E M O N — deaub; mesachie tahmahnawis.
DENTIST - doctin kopa latah.
DENY, D E N I A L - wawa halo.
DEPART - klatawa.
DESCENT - klatawa keekwullie.
DESCRIBE - mamook kumtux.
ENGLISH-CHINOOK 115
DESERT - illahee kah halo ikta mitlite.
DESERT, TO - kapswolla klatawa; mahsh.
DESIRE - ticky.
DESTROY - mamook halo.
D E V I L - deaub.
D I A B O L I C A L - kahkwa deaub.
D I D — mamook.
D I E — memaloose; mahsh konoway yaka wind.
DIFFERENT, DIFFERENCE - huloima.
DIFFICULT - k u l l .
D I G — mamook illahee; mamook kokshut illahee.
D I G A H O L E - mamook hole.
D I L U T E — mahsh chuck kunamokst.
D I M E - bit; ikt bit.
D I N E , DINNER — muckamuck kopa sitkum sun.
DIRECT - delate.
DIRECTLY - alki; winapee; tshike.
DIRTY — illahee mitlite; hyas humm.
DISAGREE - halo tumtum kahkwa.
DISAPPEAR - chako halo.
DISAPPOINT - mamook pelton.
DISBELIEVE - halo tumtum kahkwa.
DISCARD, DISCHARGE - mahsh.
DISCOVER - elip nanitch.
DISHES - lasiet, leplah.
DISHONEST - kumtux kapswolla.
D I S L I K E - halo ticky.
DISOBEY — halo iskum wawa; mahsh wawa.
DISPLEASURE (expression of) - a n a h .
DISSENT - huloima tumtum.
DISTANCE (what?) - kunsih siah?
DISTANCE - siah.
DISTRESS — klahowyum tumtum; klahowyum.
DISTRUST - kwass.
D I V E — klatawa keekwullie kopa chuck.
DO, TO - mamook.
DOCTOR-doctin.
DOCTRESS - klootchman doctin.
DODGE — hyak klatawa; klatawa yahwa yahwa.
DOE — klootchman mowitch.
DOG — kahmooks.
DOLLAR — dolla; tahla; chikamin.
D O N A T I O N - cultus potlatch.
DOOR - lapote.
DOUBLE - mokst.
D O U B L E (minded) — mokst tumtum.
DOUBT - halo delate kumtux.
DOWN — keekwullie; whim.
D O W N (of a bird) - kalakala tupso.
DOWNCAST - sick tumtum.
D O W N H I L L - keekwullie.
DOWNSTREAM - mimie; cooley chuck.
DOXOLOGY — mahsie kopa saghalie tyee.
DOZEN - tahtlum pe mokst.
DRAWERS (underpants) — keekwullie sakoleks.
DREAD - kwass.
DREAM — dleam; nanitch kopa moosum; moosum nanitch.
DRENCH - mahsh kopa chuck.
DRESS - klootchman coat.
DRINK, TO — muckamuck; muckamuck chuck, kaupy; whiskey, etc.
DRINKABLE — kloshe kopa muckamuck.
DRIP — chuck klatawa.
DRIVE — mamook kishkish.
DRIZZLE — tenas snass.
DROWN — memaloose kopa chuck.
DROWSY - t i c k y sleep.
DRUG - lametsin.
DRUM (Indian) —pompon.
DRUNK - pahtlum.
DRUNKARD — pahtlum man; man kwonesum pahtlum.
DRY, DRYNESS - dly; dely.
DUCK (mallard) -hahthaht.
DUCKING — mahsh kopa chuck; klatawa kopa chuck.
D U G — mamook dig.
D U L L — halo tumtum; siah latate.
D U M B — wake wawa; halo wawa.
D U R I N G - kopa.
DUST — polallie; tenas illahee; klimmin klimmin illahee.
D W E L L - mitlite.
DYE, TO - mamook tzum.
DYING — wake siah memaloose.
E
EACH - ikt ikt.
EAGER - ticky.
EAGER, TO BE - hyas ticky.
EAGLE - chakchak.
EAR — kwolan.
EARLY — tenas sun.
EARN, TO - tolo.
EARNEST - skookum tumtum.
EARTH - illahee.
ENGLISH-CHINOOK 117
EAST — kah sun yaka chako.

EASTER - Paska.
EASY-halo kull.
EAT, TO - muckamuck.
EATABLE — kloshe kopa muckamuck.
EBB T I D E - chuck yaka klatawa.
EDUCATE - mamook kumtux.
E E L (lamprey) — skwakwal.
EFFECTS - iktas.
EFFEMINATE - kahkwa klootchman.
EFFICIENT - skookum; kloshe.
EGG, EGGS - hen olallie.
E I G H T — stotekin; kwinnum pe klone; eight.
EIGHTEEN - tahtlum pe stotekin.
EIGHT HUNDRED - stotekin tukomonuk.
EIGHTY - stotekin tahtlum.
EITHER - OR - klonas klonas.
EJECT - mahsh klahanie.
ELBOW - kimta Iamah.
ELDER - elip.
ELDER BROTHER - kaupho.
ELEGANT - hyas kloshe.
ELEVATE — mamook saghalie.
E L K — moolack; mooluk.
ELOPE — kapswolla kopa klootchman.
ELOQUENT - kumtux wawa.
ELSE — huloima.
E L U D E — ipsoot, klatawa.
EMBARK — klatawa kopa canim; boat; ship.
E M B L E M — kahkwa picture.
EMBRACE — iskum kopa lamah.
EMIGRATE - klatawa kopa huloima illahee.
E M O T I O N - cly tumtum; kahkwa cly.
EMPLOYER - tyee; boss.
EMPTY - halo ikta mitlite.
ENACT - mamook.
ENCIRCLE — ikt yahwa, ikt yahwa, ikt yahwa, pe mamook kow.
ENCLOSE — mamook keekwullie.
ENCLOSURE - kullah.
E N D — opoots.
ENDEAVOR - ticky mamook.
ENDLESS - kwonesum.
ENDURE — kwonesum mamook; kwonesum mitlite.
ENEMY — solleks tillikum; mesachie tillikum.
ENERGY — skookum mamook.
ENGLAND - King Chautsh Illahee.
ENGLISH, E N G U S H M A N - King Chautsh man; King Chautsh Hllikum.

ENGLISH (language) —Boston wawa.
ENGRAVE - mamook tzum.
ENJOY - mitlite kloshe tumtum.
ENLARGE — mamook hyas.
ENOUGH — kopet hiyu; hiyu; kopet.
ENRAGED - solleks.
ENSLAVE - mamook elitee.
ENTER — klatawa keekwullie; klatawa inside.
ENTERTAIN (as a guest) - kloshe nanitch.
ENTIRE - konaway.
ENTRAILS - Idya.
ENTRAP - iskum kopa trap.
ENUMERATE — mamook kunsih; mamook tzum.
EPILEPSY - sick, kahkwa clazy.
EQUAL - kahkwa.
ERECT - mitwhit; delate.
ESCAPE — chako klahanie (for first or second persons); klatawa klahanie
(for third person); klatawa; klah.
ESCORT, TO — klatawa kunamokst pe kloshe nanitch.
ESTIMATE - tumtum.
ESTIMATE, TO - mamook tumtum.
ETERNAL - kwonesum.
EULOGIZE — wawa kloshe wawa.
EVACUATE — mamook halo; konaway klatawa klahanie.
E V E N — konoway kahkwa; kloshe.
E V E N I N G - tenas polaklie.
EVER, EVERLASTING - kwonesum.
EVERY-konaway.
EVERYWHERE - konaway kah.
EVICT - mahsh klahanie.
E V I L — mesachie.
E W E — klootchman lemooto.
EXACT - delate.
EXAGGERATE - wake siah kliminawhit.
E X A L T — mamook saghalie; mamook hyas.
E X A L T E D — chako saghalie; klatawa saghalie; chako hyas.
E X A M I N E - delate nanitch.
EXCEED - chako elip hiyu.
EXCEL - elip kloshe.
EXCELLENT - hyas kloshe.
EXCEPT - kopet.
EXCESS - elip hiyu.
EXCHANGE - huyhuy.
EXCITE — mamook hyas yaka tumtum.
E X C L A I M , EXCLAMATION - skookum wawa; wawa.
ENGLISH-CHINOOK 119
EXCLUDE, EXCOMMUNICATE - mahsh klahanie.
EXCUSE — mamook klahowya.
EXECUTE — mamook memaloose.
EXERCISE, EXERT - mamook.
EXERT - hiyu mamook.
E X H A L E - mahsh wind.
EXHAUST - mamook tiU.
EXHAUSTED — chako delate till; wake siah memaloose kopa till.
EXHORT — skookum wawa; wawa skookum.
E X I L E , TO - mahsh.
EXIST - mitlite.
EXPATRIATE - mahsh klahanie kopa yaka illahee.
EXPEDITE - mamook hyak.
EXPEL - mahsh.
EXPEND - pay; potlatch.
EXPERT - delate yaka kumtux.
EXPIRE — memaloose; mahsh konaway yaka wind.
EXPLAIN — mamook kumtux.
EXPLORE - klatawa pe nanitch.
EXQUISITE - delate kloshe.
EXTEND - mamook hyas.
E X T E N D E D - chako hyas.
EXTENSIVE - hyas.
EXTERIOR - klahanie.
EXTERMINATE, EXTINGUISH - mamook halo; mahsh.
EXTRAORDINARY - hyas huloima.
EXTRAVAGANT - cultus mahkook iktas.
EYE, EYES, EYEBALL - seeowist.
EYELASH — skin kopa seeowist.
EYEWATER — Iametsin kopa seeowist.
EYEWITNESS - man yaka delate nanitch.
F
FABLE — wake delate wawa.
FABRIC - iktas.
FACE — seeowist.
F A C I L I T Y - halo kull.
FACT - delate wawa.
FADE — chako spooh.
FADED - spooh.
FAGGED - chako till.
FAIR-kloshe.
F A L L — fall down; mamook whim.
F A L L E N - whim.
FALSE, FALSEHOOD - kliminawhit; tseepe.
FAME — hyas nem.
FAMILY - tillikums.
F A M I N E — halo muckamuck.
FAMISH — wake siah memaloose kopa olo.
FAR - siah.
FARM - illahee.
FARTHER - elip siah.
FARTHEST - elip siah kopa konaway.
FAST (tight) - k w u t l ; hyas kull.
FAST (quick) - h y a k .
FASTEN - mamook kow.
FAT - glease.
FATHER - papa.
FATHOM - itlan.
FATIGUE - till.
FATTEN — mamook glease.
F A U L T — wake delate mamook.
FAVOR — kloshe tumtum.
F A W N — tenas mowitch; mowitch yaka tenas.
FEAR, FEARFUL - kwass.
FEARLESS - halo kwass.
FEAST — muckamuck; hiyu muckamuck.
FEATHER - kalakala tupso.
FEEBLE — wake skookum; halo skookum.
FEED — potlatch muckamuck.
FEEL (with hand) — kumtux kopa lamah.
FEEL (with heart) — sick tumtum.
FEET - lepee.
F E L L , TO (as a tree) — mamook whim.
FELLOW - tillikum.
FEMALE - klootchman.
FERMENT — kahkwa liplip; chako waum.
FENCE — kullah; kullahan; pence.
FEROCIOUS - hyas ticky pight; delate kumtux pight.
FERVENT, FERVOR - waum tumtum.
FESTER - chako sick pe chako hyas.
FESTIVAL — hyas kloshe time; hiyu muckamuck.
FETCH — lolo; mamook chako.
FEVER - waum sick.
FEVER A N D AGUE - waum sick, cole sick.
F E W — wake hiyu; tenas.
FIB — klirninawhit.
F I C T I O N - wake delate wawa.
F I E L D - illahee.
F I E N D — mesachie tahmahnawis.
FIERCE - hyas ticky pight.
FIFTEEN - tahtlum pe kwinnum.
ENGLISH-CHINOOK 121
FIFTY - kwinnum tahtlum.
FIGHT, TO - mamook solleks; pight; kahdena.
F I G H T (with fists) - mamook pukpuk.
FIGURED (as calico) - tzum.
F I L E - laleem.
F I L L , TO - mamook pahtl.
F I L T H Y — mesachie; humm; cultus.
F I N — pish yaka lamah.
F I N D , TO - klap.
F I N E - kloshe.
FINE, TO - mamook fine.
FINGER - ledoo.
FINGER RING - kweokweo.
FINISH — mamook kopet.
FIR — moola stick.
FIRE - piah; olapitski.
FIREPLACE - kah piah mitlite.
F I R M — skookum.
FIRST - elip.
FIRST BORN - elip tenas.
FISH - pish.
FISHERMAN - pishman.
FISHERY — kah pish mitlite; kah iskum pish.
FISHHOOK -pishhook; ikik.
FISHLINE - pish lope.
FISHROD - pish stick.
F I S H Y - k a h k w a pish.
FISTS - lamah kahkwa.
F I T — kahkwa clazy.
FIVE — kwinnum.
FIVE HUNDRED - kwinnum tukamonuk.
F I X — mamook kloshe.
F L A G — sail; flag; hyas Sunday sail.
FLEA — sopena inapoo; chotub.
FLEE - klatawa.
FLESH - itlwillie; meat.
FLIES — tenas kalakala; lemosh.
FLIMSY — pewhattie; wake skookum.
F L I N G - mahsh.
F L I N T - kilitsut.
FLOAT — mitlite saghalie kopa chuck.
FLOCK — hiyu sheep; kalakala.
FLOOD - hiyu chuck.
FLOUNDER (fish) - tpishkuks.
FLOUR — sapolil; klimmin sapolil.
F L O W - klatawa.
FLOWER, FLOWERS - kloshe tupso.
F L U I D - kahkwa chuck.
FLY, TO — mamook fly; kawak.
FOAL, A — tenas kuitan.
FOAL (to be with) — klootchman kuitan yaka mitlite tenas.
FOG — smoke; cultus smoke.
FOLD, SHEEPFOLD - lemooto house.
FOLKS - tillikums.
FOLLOW - klatawa kimtah.
FOLLY - kahkwa pelton.
FOOD — muckamuck.
FOOL - pelton.
FOOLISH, FOOLHARDY - kahkwa pelton.
FOOT - lepee.
FOOTSTEPS, FOOTPRINT - kah lepee mitlite.
FOR - kopa.
FORAGE, GRASS L A N D - tapso illahee.
FORBEAR - kopet.
FORBID — wawa kloshe kopet.
FORD — kah kloshe nesika klatawa enati kopa chuck.
FOREFATHER - ahnkuttie papa.
FOREIGN - huloima.
FOREIGNER - huloima tillikum.
FORENOON - elip sitkum sun.
FOREST - kah hiyu stick mitlite.
FORETELL - wawa elip.
FOREVER - kwonesum.
FORGET, TO - mahlie; mahsh tumtum; kopet kumtux.
FORGIVE — mamook klahowya.
FORK (hayfork) - lapushet.
FORKS (of a river or road) — lapush mox.
FORMER - elip.
FORMERLY - ahnkuttie.
FORSAKE - mahsh.
FORTNIGHT - mokst Sunday.
FORTUNATE - kloshe.
FORTY - lakit tahtlum.
FOR W H A T - pe kahta.
F O W L - lapool.
FOUND - klap.
FOUR - lakit; lokit.
FOURTEEN - tahtlum pe lakit.
FOUR HUNDRED - lakit tukamonuk.
F O W L - lapool.
FOX — talapus; hyas opoots talapus.
FRAIL — wake skookum.
ENGLISH-CHINOOK 123
FRANCE - Pasiooks illahee.

FRATERNAL - kahkwa ow.
FREE - halo elitee.
FREEZE, FREEZING - hyas cole; shelipo.
FRENCH, FRENCHMAN - Pasiooks.
FREQUENTLY - hiyu times.
FRESH - chee.
FRET - tenas solleks.
FRIDAY — kwinnum sun.
FRIEND - sikhs; six.
FRIENDLY - kloshe tumtum; kahkwa tillikum.
FRIENDLESS - halo tillikum.
FRIGHTEN - mamook kwass.
FRIGHTENED - chako kwass.
FRINGE - tupso.
FROG - shwahkuk; wakik.
FROLIC - hehe.
FROLICSOME - pahtl kopa hehe.
FROM-kopa.
FROWN - kahkwa solleks.
FRY, TO — mamook piah; mamook cook; mamook lapoel.
FRYING PAN - lapoel.
F U E L - piah stick.
F U L L - pahtl.
F U N - hehe.
F U N D — chikamin: dolla.
FUNERAL — lolo; mahsh memaloose tillikum kopa memaloose illahee.
FUR — eena tupso.
FURNITURE - iktas.
FURTHERMOST, FURTHEST - elip siah kopa konaway.
F U T I L E - cultus.
FUTURE - alki; by-by; winapee.
G
GAB, GABBLE - wawa.

GAIN - tolo.
GALE — skookum wind.
GALLOP, TO - kwalalkwalal; hyak klatawa.
GAMBLE — gamble; mamook gamble; mamook itlokum; hehe lamah (with
disks).
GAME-hehe.
GARDEN - kloshe illahee.
GARDEN, TO - mamook kloshe illahee.
GARMENTS - iktas.
GAS — kahkwa wind.
GASH, TO — mamook cut; mamook kokshut.
GASP — hyas kull spose yaka iskum yaka wind; wake siah lost yaka wind.
GATHER - iskum; hokumelh.
GAY - kloshe; hehe.
GAZE — skookum nanitch.
GENDER — (is distinguished by prefixing the word man for male, and
klootchman for female.)
GENERAL - hyas tyee.
GENEROUS - kloshe kopa cultus potlatch.
GENTLE - halo wind.
GENUINE - delate.
GET, TO - iskum.
GET OUT - klatawa; mahsh.
GET UP — mamook getup; getup.
GHOST — tahmahnawis; skookum.
GIANT — delate hyas man.
GIFT — cultus potlatch.
GIGGLE - hehe.
GILT — kahkwa pil chikamin.
GIRL — tenas klootchman.
GIRLISH — kahkwa tenas klootchman.
GIVE, TO - potlatch.
GLAD — kwan; yotl tumtum.
GLADNESS - ualtee.
GLARE — skookum light.
GLASS - shelokum.
G L E A M - tenas light.
GLEE - hehe.
GLOOM - polaklie.
GLOOMY - kahkwa polaklie (like night).
GLORIOUS - hyas kloshe.
GLORY — hyas kloshe nem.
GNATS - dago.
GNAW — muckamuck; muckamuck kahkwa eena.
GO, TO - klatawa.
GOAD — moosmoos stick.
GOBLIN — tahmahnawis; tsiatko.
GOD - Saghalie Tyee.
GODLESS - halo ticky Saghalie Tyee.
GODLIKE, GODLY - kahkwa Saghalie Tyee.
GOLD — pil chikamin.
GOLDEN — kahkwa p i l chikamin.
GOOD-kloshe.
GOOD-BYE - klahowya.
GOOD SPIRIT - kloshe tahmahnawis.
GOODS - iktas.
GOOSE - kalakala.
ENGLISH-CHINOOK 125
GORE - pilpil.
GORE, TO — mamook kokshut pe pilpil yaka chako.
GOSPEL — Saghalie Tyee yaka wawa. (God, His word.)
GOVERN — mamook tyee.
GOVERNOR-tyee.
GRACEFUL - kloshe.
GRADUATE, TO - kopet kopa school.
GRAIN - sapolil.
GRAND - hyas kloshe.
GRANDCHILD - tenas yaka tenas.
GRANDDAUGHTER - tenas yaka tenas klootchman.
GRANDFATHER — papa yaka papa (papa of his papa); chope.
GRANDMOTHER - mama yaka mama; chitsh.
GRANDSON — tenas yaka tenas man (son of his son).
GRANT - potlatch.
GRASS — tupso; tupso kopa illahee.
GRASSHOPPER - tlaktlak.
GRATEFUL - mahsie tumtum.
GRATEFUL, TO BE - wawa mahsie. J
GRAVE — memaloose illahee.
GRAVESTONE — stone kopa memaloose illahee.
GRAZE — muckamuck tupso.
GREASE - glease.
GREASY - kahkwa glease.
GREAT - hyas.
GREEDY — ticky konaway; hyas ticky.
GREEN — pechugh; (palegreen) kawkawak.
GREET - wawa.
GREY - gley.
GRIEF - cly tumtum.
GRIND (as flour) — mamook sapolil; mamook klimmin-klimmin; (as ax)
mamook sharp; mamook kloshe.
GRIT — tenas stone; kahkwa stone.
GRIZZLY (bear) — siam; siam itswoot.
GROG — lumpechuck.
GROUND - illahee.
GROUSE — glouse; siwash chicken; siwash lapool.
GROW - chako hyas.
GROWL, GRUMBLE - solleks wawa.
GRUMBLE - sollex wawa.
GRUNT — wawa kahkwa cosho.
GUARD - kloshe nanitch.
GUARDIAN — man yaka kloshe nanitch tenas.
GUARD HOUSE - skookum house.
GUESS — mika tumtum; guess.
G U I L T — mesachie.
GUM — lagome.
GUN — musket; sukwalwal.
GUNPOWDER - polallie.
GYPSY - huloima tillikum.
H
HA - nah.
H A I L — cole snass.
HAIR — tupso; tupso kopa latate; yakso.
HAIR BRUSH - tupso bloom.
H A L F — sitkum.
HALF-BREED — sitkum siwash; sitkum Boston.
HALIBUT-pows.
HALLOO - nah.
H A L T — kopet klatawa; kopet cooley.
H A M — cosho; dly cosho.
HAMMER - lemahto.
H A N D - lamah.
H A N D (right) - kloshelamah.
H A N D (game of) — itlokum.
HANDCUFF — chickamin kopa mamook kow lamah.
HANDKERCHIEF - hakatshum.
HANDSOME - hyas kloshe.
HANG — memaloose kopa lope kopa yaka neck. (Died with rope around his
neck.)
HAPPY — kloshe tamtam; yotl tumtum.
HARANGUE — skookum wawa.
HARD - kull.
HARDEN - mamook kull.
HARE - kwitshadie.
HARK — nah; nanitch.
HARLOT — mesachie klootchman.
HARM — mesachie.
HARM, TO — mamook mesachie.
HARROW, TO - mamook comb illahee.
HARVEST - iskum sapolil.
HASTEN - hyak.
H A T - seahpo.
H A T C H — chicken chako kopa eggs; tenas lapool chee chako.
HATCHET - tenas lahash.
H A U L - haul.
H A U L , W I T H WAGON - lolo kopa chikchik.
HAVE - mitlite.
H A W K — hawk; shakshak.
HAY — hay; dly tupso.
HAZEL NUTS - tukwilla.
ENGLISH-CHINOOK 127
HE, HIS - yaka.
H E A D - latate.
HEADACHE - sick kopa latate.
H E A D W I N D - cultus wind.
H E A L — mamook kloshe.
H E A L E D - chako kloshe.
H E A L T H Y - halo sick.
HEAP - hiyu.
HEAR — kumtux kopa kwolan.
HEARSAY — cultus kumtux kopa kwolan.
HEART - tumtum.
HEARTACHE - sick tumtum.
HEAT - waum.
HEAVEN — Saghalie Tyee yaka illahee; koosah; saghalie illahee.
HEAVY - till.
HEED (take) — kloshe nanitch.
HEIRS — yaka tenas pe yaka klootchman.
H E L L — hyas piah; deaub yaka illahee; keekwullie illahee.
HELM-ludda.
HELP, TO — mamook elan; mamook help.
H E N — klootchman chicken.
HENCE - kahkwa.
HER - yaka.
HERB — lametsin; tupso.
HERD — hiyu moosmoos.
HERE — yukwa; how nah.
HERMAPHRODITE - Burdash.
HERRING - tenas pish; oolchus.
HERS - yaka.
HERSELF - yaka self.
H E W (to cut or chop) - Tlkope.
HEY - nah.
H I D E , TO - ipsoot.
H I D E OR PELT - skin.
H I G H — saghalie; long; high.
HIGHWAY - ooahut.
H I L A R I T Y - hiyu hehe.
H I L L — tenas saghalie illahee.
H I M — yaka.
HIMSELF - yaka self.
H I N D E R — wake siah mamook stop.
HIRE — potlatch mamook.
HIRED — iskum mamook.
HIS - yaka.
H I T , TO - mamook kokshut; kwult.
H I T , TO BE - chako kokshut.
H I T C H — mamook kow.
HITHER - yukwa; newhah.
HO - nah.
HOARSE — cole sick wawa.
HOARY - t'kope.
HOE — lapeosh.
HOG - cosho.
HOGGISH - kahkwa cosho.
H O L D — iskum; halo mahsh.
H O L D ON - kloshe mitlite; kloshe wait.
HOLE-klawhop.
HOLIDAY - hyas Sunday; Sunday.
HOLY — kahkwa Saghalie Tyee.
H O L L O W - halo ikta mitlite.
HOME — nika house; illahee.
HONEST — wake kapswolla; halo kumtux kapswolla.
HONEY — honey; kahkwa shugah.
HONOR - kloshe nem.
HOOF — kuitan lepee.
HOP — sopena.
HOPE - ticky kahkwa.
HOPEFUL - halo kwass.
HOPS — tlanemas.
HORN — stone; bone.
HORRIBLE, HORRID - hyas mesachie.
HORROR - hyas kwass.
HORSE - kuitan.
HORSEBACK - kopa kuitan.
HORSEHAIR - kuitan tupso.
HORSE RACE - cooley kuitan.
HORSESHOES — kuitan shoes; chikamin shoes.
HOSE - stocken.
HOSPITABLE - kloshe.
HOSTILE - solleks.
HOT — hyas waum.
HOUR — tintin — adding the number, as klone tintin, three o'clock, etc.
HOUSE - house.
HOW - kahta?
H O W ARE YOU? - klahowya?
H O W L — kahmooks yaka wawa.
HOW LARGE? - kunsih hyas?
H O W MANY? - kunsih?
HUCKLEBERRIES - shot olallie.
H U M A N - kahkwa man.
H U M B L E - halo ploud.
HUMOROUS - hehe.
ENGLISH-CHINOOK 129
H U N D R E D - tukamonuk.
HUNGRY - olo.
H U N T - mamook hunt.
H U R L - mahsh.
HURRY-hyak;howh.
HURT - kokshut.
HURT, TO - chako kokshut.
HURT ONE'S FEELINGS - mamook sick tumtum.
HUSBAND ( M Y ) - nika man.
HUSH — kopet wawa; kopet noise.
HUT — tenas house.
I
I — nika.
ICE — cole chuck.
IDEA — tumtum.
I D E N T I C A L - delate kahkwa.
I D I O T — pelton man.
I D L E - cultus mitlite.
IF — spose.
IGNITE - mamook piah.
IGNORANT - halo kumtux; blind kopa tumtum.
I L L ; ILLNESS - sick.
I L L T R E A T — mamook mesachie; mamook kahta.
I M B E C I L E — wake skookum latate.
I M B I B E — muckamuck.
I M I T A T E - mamook kahkwa.
I M I T A T I O N - kahkwa mamook.
I M M A T E R I A L - cultus.
IMMEASURABLE — halo kumtux kunsih hyas.
IMMENSE - delate hyas.
I M M I G R A T E - chako kopa ikt illahee.
IMMODEST, I M M O R A L - mesachie.
IMPATIENCE - halo ticky mitlite.
IMPERFECT - wake delate.
IMPOSSIBLE — wake skookum kopa.
IMPROBABLE - tumtum yaka halo kahkwa.
IMPROPER - wake kloshe.
IMPROVE — chako tenas kloshe.
IN - kopa.
I N A B I L I T Y — wake skookum kopa; howkwutl.
INASMUCH - kahkwa.
I N C I T E — mamook waum yaka tumtum.
INCOMPLETE - wake yaka kopet.
I N D E E D - nowitka.
INDEPENDENT (he is) -cultus kopa (yaka) kopa huloima tillikums.
I N D I A N - siwash.
INDIFFERENT (I am) - cultus kopa nika.
I N D O M I T A B L E - skookum tumtum.
I N D U C E (him) — mamook haul yaka tumtum.
I N D U L G E - iskum.
INDUSTRIOUS - kwonesum mamook.
INEBRIATE — man yaka kwonesum pahtlum; man yaka kwonesum mucka-
muck whiskey.
I N F A N T — tenas; chee tenas.
I N F I R M , SICK - wake skookum.
I N K — klale chuck kopa mamook tzum.
INQUIRE — wawa; ask; ticky kumtux.
INSHORE - mahtwillie.
INSIDE -keekwullie.
INSPIRE — mamook waum yaka tumtum.
INSTANTLY - hyak.
INSUFFICIENT - wake hiyu.
INSULT - solleks wawa.
I N T E N D ( I ) - n i k a tumtum.
I N T E N T I O N - tumtum.
INTERCEDE (you for me) — kloshe mika potlatch nika wawa kopa yaka.
INTERPRET — mamook kumtux huloima wawa.
INVISIBLE (to you) - wake kahta nanitch.
I N T E R V A L - tenas laly.
I N T I M A T E - kloshe.
INWARD - keekwullie.
IRON - chikamin.
IRRESOLUTE - wake skookum tumtum.
IRRIGATE — mamook cooley chuck.
IS — "mitlite" is sometimes used and sometimes no word is used.
ISLAND - tenas illahee.
IT - yaka.
I T C H - tlihtlih.
ITS - yaka.
ITSELF - yaka self.
I V Y — stick kahkwa lope.
J
JABBER — cultus wawa.
JACKET - yotskut capo.
JEALOUS - sick tumtum.
JEHOVAH - Saghalie Tyee.
JERK — hyas mamook haul. (Quick make haul).
JERKED BEEF - moosmoos itlwillie chako dly.
JEST — cultus wawa.
JESUS — Saghalie Tyee yaka tenas (son of God).
JOB — mamook.
ENGLISH-CHINOOK 131
JOIN — chako kunamokst.

JOKE — cultus wawa.
JOKE, TO - mamook hehe.
JOLLY — hehe tumtum.
JOURNEY - cooley.
JOY, JOYFUL - yotl tumtum.
JUDGE — tyee kopa court.
JUG — stone labootai.
JUICE - olallie chuck.
JUMP, TO - sopena.
JUST — delate. Just a little, delate tenas.
K
KAMASS ROOT-See camas.
K E N N E L — kahmooks house.
KETTLE-ketling.
KEY - lekleh.
KICK, TO — mamook kokshut; chukkin.
K I L L — mamook memaloose.
K I N - tillikum.
K I N D - kloshe.
KINDRED - tillikum.
KISS-bebe.
K I T T E N — tenas pusspuss.
KNEAD — mamook lepan.
K N E E - tahness.
K N E E L — mamook kahkwa (showing how).
KNIFE - opitsah.
K N I T — mamook stocken.
KNOCK, TO — koko; mamook kokshut; mamook kahkwa (showing how).
KNOT (of tree) — lamah; lamah kopa stick.
KNOTTED (curled)-hunlkih.
KNOW, TO; KNOWLEDGE - kumtux.
KNUCKLE — yukwa kopa lamah (point to it).
L
LABOR — mamook.
LACK — wake hiyu.
L A D — tenas man.
LADY — klootchman.
LAKE - tsalil.
L A M B — tenas sheep; tenas lemooto; sheep yaka tenas.
L A M E — klook teahwit; sick kopa lepee.
L A M E N T - cly tumtum.
LAMP — lalamp.
L A N D - illahee.
L A N D L O R D - tyee.
L A N D OTTER - nenamooks.
L A N E - ooahut.
LANGUAGE - lalang.
LARCENY - kapswolla.
L A R D — cosho glease.
LARGE - hyas.
LARK — tenas kalakala.
LAST — delate kimtah; kimtah kopa konaway.
LATELY — chee; tenas ahnkuttie.
L A U G H — hehe; mamook hehe.
LAUGHTER - hehe.
L A U N C H — mahsh boat; ship kopa chuck.
L A W N — kloshe tupso illahee.
LAY — mahsh.
LAZY-lazy.
L E A D (bullet) -.kalitan.
L E A D , TO — mamook cooley.
LEADER - tyee.
LEAF, LEAVES - tupso.
L E A N — halo glease.
LEAN, TO - lagh.
LEAP, TO - sopena.
LEARN — iskum kumtux; kumtux.
LEARNED - kumtux hiyu.
LEAST — elip tenas kopa konaway.
LEATHER - skin; dly skin.
LEAVE, TO - mahsh; klatawa.
L E A V E OFF, TO - kopet.
LECTURE - wawa.
L E G — teahwit; lepee.
L E G A L — kloshe kopa law.
LEGEND — wawa; wake delate wawa.
LEGGINGS - mitass.
LEGISLATURE — tyee man klaska mamook law.
L E N D , TO - ayahwhul; ticky owe.
LENGTH -yotikut.
LESS - tenas.
LETTER - pepah.
L E V E L — konaway kahkwa; flat.
LIAR — yaka kumtux wawa khminawhit.
LIBERAL — kloshe kopa cultus potlatch.
LICK, TO - klakwun.
L I C E — inapoo.
L I E — kliminawhit wawa; kliminawhit.
L I E , TO — wawa kliminawhit; kliminawhit.
ENGLISH-CHINOOK 133
L I E D O W N - mitlite.
L I G H T (not heavy) - halo till; wake till.
L I G H T (not dark) - halo polaklie.
LIGHT, DAYLIGHT - twah.
L I G H T N I N G - saghalie piah.
L I K E (similar) — kahkwa.
L I K E (want) - ticky.
L I M B — (of person) lamah; (of tree) stick yaka lamah.
LINGER - mitlite; halo chako.
LINGUIST - yaka kumtux hiyu lalang.
L I N I M E N T — lametsin kopa skin.
LIPS — lapush (point to them).
LISP — wake delate wawa.
LISTEN - hah; nanitch.
L I T T L E - tenas.
L I V E — halo memaloose.
L I V E , TO - mitlite.
LIVER - haslitch.
LODGE — tenas house; siwash house.
LOFTY - saghalie.
LOGGING CAMP - stick house.
LONELY - kopet ikt.
LONG - yotlkut.
LONG AGO - ahnkuttie.
LOOK, TO - nanitch; nah.
LOOK AROUND - cultus nanitch.
LOOK HERE! - nah!
LOOK OUT! - kloshe nanitch!
LOOKING GLASS - shelokum.
LOOSE — stoh; mahsh kow.
L O U D - skookum latlah.
LOUSE - inapoo.
LOSE T H E WAY - tsolo; tseepe ooahut.
LOVE, TO - ticky.
L O W — keekwullie.
LOWER - elip keekwullie.
LOWER, TO - mamook keekwullie.
LOWLY — halo ploud tumtum.
L U K E W A R M (indifferent) — tenas lazy; (tepid) tenas waum.
L U G - lolo.
LUMBER - laplash.
L U N C H — muckamuck.
M
M A D — solleks.
M A D A M — klootchman.
MAGIC — tahmahnawis.
MAGISTRATE - t y e e .
MAGNIFICENT - delate hyas kloshe.
MAIZE — corn; esalth.
MAJORITY - dip hiyu.
MAKE, TO-mamook.
MALE — man.
MALICE — mesachie tumtum; solleks.
M A L L A R D DUCK - hahthaht.
M A M M A — mama.
M A N — man.
MANAGE — tolo; mamook.
MANE — kuitan yakso.
MANGLE — hiyu mamook cut.
M A N K I N D — konaway tillikums.
MANLY — kahkwa man.
MANNER — kahkwa kwonesum yaka mamook.
MANSION - hyas house.
MANY-hiyu.
MAPLE — isick stick.
MARBLE - kloshe stone.
MARE — klootchman kuitan.
MARK - tzum.
MARK, TO — mamook tzum.
MARKET - mahkook house.
MARRIAGE, MARRY - mallie.
MARROW — glease mitlite kopa bone.
MASK — stick seeowist.
MASSACRE, TO — cultus mamook memaloose.
MASS (ceremony of) — lamesse.
MAST - ship stick.
MASTER - tyee.
MAT — kliskwiss.
MATERNAL - kahkwa mama.
MATRIMONY - mallie.
MATRON - tyee klootchman.
MATTOCK - lapeosh.
MATURE - piah.
M A X I M U M — elip hiyu kopa konaway.
MAYOR — tyee kopa town.
ME — nika.
MEADOW - tupso, illahee.
M E A L (flour) — sapolil.
M E A L — muckamuck.
M E A N — delate cultus; wake kloshe.
MEASURE, TO — tahnim; mamook measure.
ENGLISH-CHINOOK 135
MEAT — itlwillie; meat.
M E D I C I N E - lametsin.
M E D I C I N E M A N (Indian) -keelally.
M E D I T A T E - mamook tumtum.
MEEK — kloshe; halo solleks; kwan.
M E E T — chako kunamokst.
MELANCHOLY - sick tumtum.
M E L L O W - piah.
M E L T — chako chuck; chako kahkwa chuck; chako klimmin.
MEMORY - tumtum.
M E N D , TO — mamook tupshin.
MENSTRUATE - mahsh pilpil.
M E N T A L - kopa tumtum.
MENTION -wawa.
MERCHANDISE - iktas.
MERCHANT - mahkook man.
MERCHANTABLE - kloshe kopa mahkook.
MERCIFUL, TO BE - mamook klahowya.
MERRY - kwan.
MESSAGE (verbal) —wawa.
MESSAGE (written) - pepah.
METAL, M E T A L L I C - chikamin; kahkwa chikamin.
METROPOLIS - tyee town.
MIDDAY — sitkum sun.
M I D D L E , T H E - katsuk; sitkum.
M I D N I G H T - sitkum polaklie.
MIDSUMMER — sitkum kopa waum illahee.
MIDST - kunamokst.
M I G H T (strength) -skookum.
MIGRATE - klatawa.
M I L D - kloshe.
M I L K - tatoosh.
M I L K M A N — tatoosh man.
M I L K Y — kahkwa tatoosh.
M I L L — moola.
M I L L E R — moola man.
M I M I C — mamook kahkwa.
M I N D , T H E - tumtum.
M I N E — illahee kah chikamin mitlite.
M I N G L E — klatawa kunamokst; mamook kunamokst; mahsh kunamokst.
MINISTER - leplet.
M I N N O W - tenas pish.
MINOR — tenas; elip tenas.
MIRACLE — huloima mamook.
MIRROR - shelokum.
M I R T H - hehe.
MISCHIEF — cultus mamook.
MISCONDUCT - mesachie mamook.
MISPRONOUNCE — halo delate wawa; tseepe wawa; huloima wawa.
MISS, TO - tseepe.
MISSIONARY - leplet.
MISTAKE — tseepe mamook.
MISTAKE, TO - mamook tseepe.
MISTY — tenas snass.
MISUNDERSTAND - halo kumtux.
M I T E (a little) - tenas.
M I X — mamook kunamokst; mamook klimmin.
MOAN - cly.
MOB — sollex tillikum.
MOCCASINS - skin-shoes.
MOCK — mamook shem; mamook hehe.
MODERATE - wake hyak.
MODEST - kloshe.
MOISTURE - tenas chuck.
MOLASSES — melass; silup; molassis.
MOLE - skad.
MONDAY - ikt sun.
MONEY - chikamin; dolla.
MONTH-moon.
MONTHLY - ikt moon - ikt moon.
MOON — moon.
MOONLIGHT, MOONSHINE - moon yaka light.
MOOSE — ulchey; hyas mowitch.
MORAL (upright) -kloshe.
MORE — weght; elip hiyu.
MORNING - tenas sun.
MOSS - tupso.
MOSQUITO - melakwa; dago.
MOST — elip hiyu kopa konaway.
MOTHER - mama; naha.
MOTHERLESS - halo mama.
MOTHERLY - kahkwa mama.
M O T T L E D (dappled) - l e k y e .
M O U N T A I N — stone illahee; lamontay.
MOURN - cly tumtum.
MOUSE — hoolhool; cultus hoolhool.
M O U T H - lapush; laboos.
M O V E — tenas mahsh; mamook move.
MOW — mamook cut; mamook tlkope.
MOWER — machine kopa mamook cut hay.
MUCH - hiyu.
M U D — mud; klimmin illahee.
ENGLISH-CHINOOK 137
MUDDY (muddy water) — illahee mitlite kopa chuck (land is with water).
MUDDY (muddy ground) — chuck mitlite kopa illahee (water is with land).
M U L E — lemel; lemool.
M U L I S H - kahkwa lemool.
M U M — halo wawa.
MURDER — mamook memaloose.
MURMUR — tenas pight wawa.
MURMUR, TO — potlatch tenas pight wawa.
MUSE, TO - mamook tumtum.
MUSIC - tintin.
MUSICIAN — man yaka kumtux tmtin.
MUSICAL INSTRUMENT - tintin.
MUSKET - musket.
MUSKRAT - emintepu.
MUSSELS - toluks.
MUSTARD - piah tupso.
MUTE - halo wawa.
MUTTER - wawa.
M U T T O N — sheep yaka meat; lemooto yaka itlwillie.
MY, M I N E - nika.
MYSELF - nika self.
MYSTERY - hyas huloima.
N
NAB — iskum.
N A I L - lekloo.
NAILS (finger nails and toenails) — towah.
NAKED - halo ikta mitlite.
NAME — nem; yahhul.
NAMELESS - halo nem.
NAP — tenas sleep; tenas moosum.
NARROW - halo wide.
NASTY — wake kloshe; mesachie.
NATION - tillikum.
N A T I V E - delate yaka illahee.
NAVEL - tentome.
NAVIGATE - klatawa kopa chuck.
NAY — wake; halo.
NEAR — wake siah.
NEAT-kloshe.
NECK - lecoo.
NEED - hyas ticky.
NEEDY - klahowyum.
NEEDLE — keepwot; tupshin.
NEGATIVE - halo; wake.
NEGLECT - halo kloshe nanitch.
NEIGHBORHOOD - tillikum mitlite wake siah.

NEPHEW — ack; kaupho (or ow or ats) yaka tenas man.
NERVE OR NERVES - tlepait.
NEST - kalakala house.
NEVER - wake kunsih.
NEW-chee.
NEWS — chee wawa.
NICE - kloshe.
NIECE — kaupho (or ow or ats) yaka tenas klootchman.
N I G H - wake siah.
NIGHT-polaklie.
N I N E — kwaist; kweest.
N I N E T E E N - tahtlum pe kweest.
NINETY - kweest tahtlum.
NO, NOT - halo; wake.
NOBODY - wake tillikum.
NOD — kahkwa sleep; moosum; wake siah sleep; moosum.
NOISE - noise; latlah.
NOISELESS - halo noise.
NOISY — hiyu noise.
N O N E - h a l o ; wake.
NONSENSE - cultus wawa.
NOON — sitkum sun.
NORTH - kah cole chako.
NOSE — nose; emeets.
NOT - halo; wake.
NOTHING - halo ikta.
NOTWITHSTANDING - keschi.
NOURISH — potlatch muckamuck.
NOW - witka.
NOWHERE - halo kah.
NOZZLE - nose.
NUMB — kahkwa memaloose.
NUMBER - klonas kunsih.
NUMERALS-
1. ikt; icht.
2. mokst, moxt.
3. Hone.
4. lakit; lokit.
5. kwinnum.
6. taghum; tughum.
7. sinamokst; sinamoxt.
8. stotekin.
9. kwaist; kweest.
10. tahtlum.
11. tahtlum pe ikt.
ENGLISH-CHINOOK 139
20. mokst tahtlum.

100. ikt tukamonuk; icht tukamonuk; tahtlum-tahtlum—ten tens.
NURSE — klootchman; man yaka kloshe nanitch.
NURSE, TO - kloshe nanitch.
NUTRIMENT - muckamuck.
NUTS - tukwilla.
O
OAK - kull stick.

OAR - lalahm.
OATS — lawen; laween.
OBEDIENCE, OBEDIENT, OBEY - iskum wawa; mamook kahkwa yaka
wawa.
OBJECT - wawa halo.
OBLIGE (a favor) — mamook help.
OBSCENE - mesachie.
OBSCURE - halo delate kumtux.
OBSERVE - nanitch.
OBTAIN - iskum.
OCEAN - hyas salt chuck.
OCHRE — kawkawak illahee.
ODD — huloima.
ODOR - humm.
OFF - klak.
OFFEND — mamook solleks; mamook kahta.
OFFER - ticky potlatch.
OFFICER - tyee.
OFF SHORE - mahtlinnie.
OFTEN - hiyu times.
O I L — glease.
O I L , TO — mamook glease.
O I L C L O T H - snass sail.
OILY — kahkwa glease.
O I N T M E N T — lametsin; lametsin kopa skin.
O L D M A N - oleman.
O L D W O M A N - lamai.
O M I T - mahsh.
ON — kopa.
ONCE - kopet ikt time.
ONE - ikt.
ONE OR ANOTHER - ikt-ikt.
ONE-EYED - ikt seeowist.
ONION - ulalach.
ONLY - kopet ikt.
OPEN - hahlakl.
OPERATE - mamook.
OPINION - tumtum.
OPPOSITE - enati.
OR - pe.
ORATION - wawa.
ORATOR — man yaka delate kumtux potlatch wawa.
ORDER, TO — mahsh wawa; potlatch wawa.
ORCHARD — kah hiyu apple stick mitlite.
ORE — chikamin stone.
ORIGINAL - chee.
ORNAMENTAL (gay colors) - tzum.
ORPHAN — halo papa halo mama.
OTHER - huloima.
OTTER (sea) — nawamooks.
OTTER (land) - nenamooks.
OUGHT - delate kloshe.
OUR, OURS — nesika; kopa nesika.
OURSELVES - nesika self.
OUT, OUTDOORS, OUTSIDE - klahanie.
OUTLAW — hyas mesachie tillikum.
OVAL — kahkwa egg.
OVEN — oven; kah mamook piah sapolil.
OVER (above) — saghalie.
OVER (other side) - enati.
OVERALLS - klahanie sakoleks.
OVERCOAT - hyas kapo.
OVERBOARD - klahanie kopa boat.
OVERCOME - tolo.
OVERSHOES — klahanie shoes; saghalie shoes.
OVERTHROW - mamook halo; tolo.
O W L — waugh waugh; kwel kwel.
OX — man moosmoos; moosmoos.
OYSTER - chetlo; kloh-kloh.
P
PACIFY — mamook kloshe.
PACK - ikt kow.
PACK, TO - lolo.
PACKAGE - ikt kow.
PADDLE - isick.
PADDLE, TO - mamook isick.
PAID — iskum pay; dolla.
PAIN — sick; pain; addedah; anah.
PAINT-pent.
PAINT, TO - mamook pent.
PAIR - mokst.
PALACE — hyas kloshe house.
ENGLISH-CHINOOK 141
PALE - tkope.
PAMPHLET - tenas book.
PAN - ketling.
PANSY - kloshe tupso.
PANT — skookum mamook wind.
PANTHER - hyas pusspuss.
PANTS - sakoleks.
PAPA — papa.
PAPER - pepah.
PAPOOSE — tenas; papoos (seldom used).
PARADE - show.
PARADE, TO — mamook show; kloshe klatawa.
PARDON — mamook klahowya.
PARENTS — papa pe mama.
PARK - kloshe illahee.
PARSON - leplet.
PARSONAGE - leplet yaka house.
PART - sitkum.
PARTAKE - iskum.
PASS, TO — klatawa; klatawa enati.
PASTOR - leplet.
PATERNAL - kahkwa papa.
PATH - ooahut.
PAW — lepee; itswoot yaka lepee (bear, his foot).
PAY — pay; potlatch dolla.
PEAS - lepwah.
PEEP — tenas nanitch.
PELT - skin.
PEN (fence) - k u l l a h .
PEN (for writing) — pen; tzum stick.
PENCIL — pencil; tzum stick.
PENITENT - sick tumtum.
PENITENTIARY - hyas skookum house.
PENMAN — tzum man.
PENTECOST - lapatkot.
PEOPLE - tillikum; tillikums.
PERFECT - delate kloshe.
PERFUME — lametsin kopa nose.
PERHAPS - klonas.
PERIL — mesachie mitlite.
PERMANENT - kwonesum mitlite.
PERMIT — wawa nowitka.
PERPETUAL - kwonesum.
PERSPIRATION - chuck mitlite kopa skin.
PERSPIRE - chuck kopa skin.
PERSEVERE, PERSIST - mamook kwonesum.
PERSON - tillikum.
PERSUADE - wawa pe toto.
PERSON - tillikum.
PERUSE - mamook read.
PETRIFIED - chako stone.
PETTICOAT (or skirt) - kalakwahtee.
PHOTOGRAPH - tzum seeowist.
PHYSIC -lametsin.
PHYSICIAN - doctin.
PICK (select) - t i c k y .
PICNIC — muckamuck hehe.
PICTURE - tzum pepah.
PIECE - sitkum.
PIETY - kloshe tumtum kopa Saghalie Tyee.
PIG — cosho; tenas cosho.
PIGEON - kwass kalakala.
PILOT — man yaka mamook cooley.
P I L L — lametsin.
PIN — kwekweens.
PINE — lagome stick.
PIPE - lapeep.
PITCH - lagome.
PITCHY - lagome mitlite.
PITY, TO - mamook klahowya.
PLACE (his) — kah yaka mitlite.
P L A I N (prairie) —kloshe illahee.
PLAIN - kloshe; delate.
PLAN — tumtum.
PLAN, TO — mamook tumtum.
PLANK - laplash.
PLATE - lasiet.
PLAY - hehe.
PLAY, TO - mamook hehe.
PLAYHOUSE - hehe house.
PLAY W I T H STRINGED INSTRUMENT - mamook tuletule.
PLEAD — skookum wawa.
PLEASANT-kloshe.
PLEASED - yotl.
PLENTIFUL - hiyu.
PLOW - lashalloo.
PLOW, TO - mamook kokshut illahee.
PLURAL - hiyu.
POLE - lapehsh.
POND — memaloose chuck.
PONDER — mamook tumtum.
POOL — tenas chuck.
ENGLISH-CHINOOK 143
POOR — halo ikta; klahowyum.
POPE - lepapa.
POPULAR - kloshe kopa hiyu tillikums.
POPULATION - tillikums.
PORK — cosho; cosho itlwillie.
POSSESS - mitlite.
POSSIBLE - skookum kopa.
POSTMASTER — tyee kopa pepah house.
POSTPONE - wawa "alki mamook."
POTATO - wappato.
POTENT - skookum.
POUND - pound; till.
POUR — mahsh; wagh.
POVERTY - klahowyum.
POWDER - polallie.
POWER - skookum.
PRACTICE - mamook.
PRAIRIE — kloshe illahee; tupso illahee.
PRAIRIE W O L F — talapus; hyas opoots talapus; literally, big-tail wolf.
PRAISE — wawa mahsie.
PRAY — wawa kopa Saghalie Tyee.
PRAYER — wawa kopa Saghalie Tyee; plie; laplie.
PREACHER - leplet.
PRECIOUS - hyas kloshe; hyas mahkook.
PRECISE - delate.
PREFER - elip ticky.
PREGNANT - mitlite tenas kopa yaka belly.
PREPARE - mamook kloshe.
PRESENT - cultus potlatch.
P R E S E N T L Y - a l k i ; winapee.
PRESERVE - kloshe nanitch.
PRESIDENT - tyee kopa Washington. (Chief at Washington.)
PRESS - mamook kwutl.
PRETEND — halo delate mamook; wawa.
PRETTY - kloshe; toketie.
PREVAIL - tolo.
PRICE (what)-kunsih dolla.
PRICK — mamook kahkwa tupshin.
PROUD - yotl tumtum.
PRIEST - leplet.
PRIME - elip.
PRINT — mamook tzum.
PRIOR - elip.
PRISON — skookum house.
PRISONER — tillikum kopa skookum house.
PRIVATE - kopet ikt.
PROBABLY - klonas,
PROBABLY NOT - klonas halo.
PROCLAIM, PROCLAMATION - wawa.
PROFANE - wake kloshe kopa Saghalie Tyee.
PROFIT - tolo.
PROGENITOR - ahnkuttie papa.
PROHIBIT — mamook stop; mamook kopet.
PROMISE - delate wawa.
PROMPT - hyak.
PROPHET — leplet yaka wawa elip; plopet.
PROSPER - tolo.
PROTECT - kloshe nanitch.
PROUD - yotl; kwelth.
PROVE - delate kumtux.
PROVIDE - iskum iktas; kloshe nanitch.
PROVIDED T H A T - spose.
PROVOKE - mamook solleks.
PROVOKED (be) - chako solleks.
PROW — nose kopa boat, ship.
PROWL - cultus klatawa.
PUBLIC — kloshe kopa konaway tillikums.
PUBLISH — mamook kumtux.
PUGILIST — man yaka ticky pight.
PUGNACIOUS - ticky pight.
PUKE — muckamuck yaka killapi; killapi muckamuck; mahsh yaka mucka-
muck klahanie kopa yaka lapush.
PULL-haul.
PUP, PUPPY - tenas kahmooks.
PURCHASE - mahkook.
PURE - delate kloshe.
PURPLE - wake siah klale.
PURPOSE - tumtum.
PURSE — dolla yaka lesak; lesak kopa dolla.
PURSUE - klatawa kimtah (go after).
PUSH — mamook push; kwutl.
PUT - mahsh.
PUTRID - humm.
PUTRIFY - chako humm.
PUZZLE, TO - halo klap tumtum.
Q
QUAIL — illahee kalakala.
QUAIL, TO - chako kwass.
QUARREL — solleks wawa; tenas pight.
QUARREL, TO — chako solleks; mamook pight.
QUARTER - tenas sitkum.
ENGLISH-CHINOOK 145
QUARTER (of a dollar) - kwata.
QUARTERLY - ikt time kopa klone moon.
QUARTZ - tkope stone.
QUEEN - tyee klootchman.
QUEER - huloima.
Q U E L L , QUENCH - mamook kopet.
QUESTIONS - wawa.
QUICK, QUICKLY - hyak.
QUIET - kwan.
QUILLS — tepeh; kalakala yaka tupso.
Q U I L T — tzum pasese.
QUIT-kopet.
QUIVER (for arrows) — stick kalitan lesak.
QUORUM - elip sitkum.
R
RARID - hyas solleks.
RABBLE - cultus tillikums.
RABBIT - kwitshadie.
RACE — hyak cooley.
RACE HORSE — cooley kuitan; kuitan yaka kumtux cooley.
RAGGED - iktas yaka kokshut.
RAIN — snass.
RAISE — mamook saghalie.
RAINY — hiyu snass.
RAKE — comb kopa illahee.
RAMBLE — cultus cooley.
RANCH - illahee; ranch.
RAP — mamook kokshut; koko.
RAPE — kapswolla klootchman.
RAPID-hyak.
RAPIDS — skookum chuck; cooley chuck.
RARE — wake hiyu.
RASCAL — mesachie tillikum.
RASP (file) — hyas pile; hyas laleem.
RASPBERRIES - seahpo olallie.
RAT — hyas hoolhool; coleecolee.
RATHER - elip ticky.
RATTLE (shake) - shugh.
RATTLESNAKE - shugh opoots.
RAVE — chako clazy.
R A V E N — kahkah (caw caw).
RAW — wake yaka piah; halo piah.
RAZOR, KNIFE - opitsah.
RAZOR CLAMS - ona.
REACH (to arrive) - ko.
146 CHINOOK: A HISTOKY A N D DICTIONARY
READ, TO — kumtux pepah; kumtux book.

REAL, REALLY - delate.
REAP — mamook cut.
REAR - kimtah.
REASON, TO - mamook tumtum.
REASSEMBLE - weght klatawa.
REASSERT - weght wawa.
REBEL, REBELLION - pight kopa tyee.
REBUILD — weght mamook house.
REBUKE — skookum wawa.
RECALL — weght wawa.
RECEDE - killapi.
RECEIVE - iskum.
RECENT - chee.
RECKON — mamook tumtum.
RECLINE - m i t l i t e .
RECOGNIZE-kumtux.
RECOLLECT - klap tumtum.
RECOMMEND - wawa kloshe.
RECONQUER - weght tolo.
RECONSIDER - weght mamook tumtum.
RECOUNT - weght wawa.
RECOVER - iskum.
RECREATION - kloshe time.
RECUMBENT - mitlite.
RED - pil.
REDDEN - p i l p i l .
REDDISH — wake siah pil; kahkwa pil.
RED HOT — hyas waum pe chako pil.
REDUCE — mamook keekwullie.
RE-EMBARK - weght klatawa kopa boat.
RE-ENTER - weght klatawa kopa house.
REFINE — mamook delate kloshe.
REFORM - chako kloshe.
REFRESH - chako chee.
REFUND - killapi dolla.
REFUSAL, EXPRESSION OF - kwish.
REFUSE, TO — wawa halo; ( i f unobligingly) mamook kwish.
REGRET - sick tumtum.
REGULAR — kwonesum kahkwa.
REJECT - mahsh.
REJOICE - yotl tumtum.
RELATE, TO - yiem; wawa.
RELATION, RELATIVE - tillikum.
RELEASE — mahsh, mahsh kow.
RELIABLE — kloshe; halo nika kwass kopa yaka.
ENGLISH-CHINOOK 147
RELIEF - help.
RELIEVE — mamook help; potlatch help.
RELIGION — saghalie tyee yaka wawa.
RELISH — kloshe kopa lapush.
REMAIN - mitlite.
REMARRY - weght mallie.
REMEDY - kloshe lametsin.
REMEDY, TO - mamook kloshe.
REMEMBER (not to forget) — mitlite kopa tumtum; wake kopet kumtux.
REMEMBER (to remember after being forgotten) — klip tumtum.
R E M I T - mahsh.
REMORSE - sick tumtum.
REMOTE - siah.
REMOUNT — weght klatawa saghalie.
REMOVE - mahsh lolo.
REND — mamook kokshut.
RENEW — mamook chee.
RENOWN - hyas kloshe nem.
REPAIR — mamook kloshe.
REPEAL — mamook halo.
REPEAT - weght wawa.
REPLY — killapi wawa.
REPROVE — potlatch skookum wawa.
RESIDE - mitlite.
RESOLUTE — skookum tumtum.
RESOLVE — mamook tumtum.
REST - cultus mitlite.
RESTAURANT - rmickamuek house.
RETREAT, RETURN, REVERSE - killapi.
REVIEW — mamook tumtum.
REVIVE - wind killapi.
RIBBON - leloba.
RIBS - telemin.
RICE - lice.
RICH — halo klahowyum; mitlite hiyu iktas pe dolla.
R I D (get rid of) — mahsh.
RIDE — klatawa kopa kuitan or chikchik.
RIDICULE - shem; hehe.
RIDICULE, TO — mamook shem; mamook hehe.
RIFLE - calipeen.
RIGHT (good)-kloshe.
RIGHT (at the) - kenkiam.
RIGHT H A N D - kloshe lamah.
RING (forhand) — kweokweo.
RING T H E BELL - mamook tintin.
RIPE - piah.
RIPEN-chakopiah.
RISE, GET UP - mitwhit.
RISK — cultus kopa nika; (I will risk it) halo nika kwass.
RIVER — chuck; cooley chuck; livah.
ROAD — ooahut; wayhut.
ROAM — klatawa kah.
ROAST — pellah; mamook piah; mamook cook.
ROB — kapswolla.
ROBIN - pil koaten.
ROCK, STONE - stone.
ROCKY - hiyu stone mitlite.
ROE (of fish) — pish eggs; pish lesep.
ROLL - killapi.
ROOT — stick keekwullie kopa illahee.
ROPE - lope.
ROSE - kloshe tupso.
ROSIN — lagome; kull lagome.
ROT - chako lotten.
ROTTEN - poolie; lotten.
ROUND (circular) - tsole.
ROUND (like a sphere) — lowullo.
ROVE — cultus klatawa; cultus cooley.
ROW, TO - mamook lalahm.
ROWER — man yaka kumtux mamook lalahm.
RUBBER COAT - snass coat.
RUDDER - ludda.
RUDE - cultus.
RUIN — mamook halo.
RUM — lum; whiskey.
RUMOR — cultus wawa.
RUN — hyak cooley.
RUN AWAY - kapswolla klatawa.
RUPTURE - kokshut.
RUST — pil ikta kopa chikamin.
S
SABBATH, SUNDAY - Sante.
SABLE - mink.
SACK - lesak.
SACRAMENT — Jesus yaka muckamuck; saklema.
SACRED - kloshe kopa Saghalie Tyee.
SAD — sick tumtum.
SADDLE - lasell.
SADDLE BLANKET - lepishemo.
SAFE - kloshe.
ENGLISH-CHINOOK 149
SAIL - sail.
SAILOR — shipman.
SAINT - lesai.
SAINT JOHN - Sai Sha.
SALESMAN — mahkook man.
SALAL BERRIES - salal olallie.
SALMON — sammon.
SALT - salt.
SAME - kahkwa.
SAND — polallie; polallie illahee; tenas stone kahkwa polallie.
SANGUINE — skookum tumtum.
SAP — chuck kopa stick.
SASH — lasanshel; belt.
SATAN - deaub.
SATANIC - kahkwa deaub.
SATISFIED (I am) - kloshe kopa nika.
SATURDAY - taghum sun.
SAVAGE - siwash.
SAVE - iskum.
SAW - lasee.
SAY, TO - wawa.
SCALES — ikta kopa mamook till.
SCANT, SCANTY - wake hiyu.
SCARCE - wake hiyu.
SCARE — mamook kwass.
SCARF — hyas sail kopa neck.
SCATTER — mahsh konaway kah.
SCENT (unpleasant) — humm.
SCENT, TO - mamook humm.
SCHOLAR — tenas kopa school; school tenas.
SCHOONER - mokst stick ship.
SCISSORS - leseezo; sezo.
SCOLD — skookum wawa.
SCREAM — hyas skookum cly.
SCRIPTURE, BIBLE - Saghalie Tyee yaka book; pepah.
SCYTHE — hyas knife kopa hay; yotikut opitsah.
SEA — salt chuck, sea, wecoma.
SEAL — olhiyu; siwash cosho.
SECOND - mokst.
SECRET - ipsoot.
SECURE - kloshe.
SEDUCE - kapswolla.
SEE, TO - nanitch.
SEEK — mamook hunt; klatawa pe ticky klap.
SEIZE - iskum.
SELDOM - wake hiyu.
SELECT — iskum ikta mika ticky.
SELL, TO — mahsh mahkook.
SEND - mahsh.
SENIOR-elip.
SENSE - kumtux; latate.
SEPARATE (to be) - huloima.
SEPARATE, TO - mamook cut.
SERIOUS - wake hehe.
SERMON - Saghalie Tyee yaka wawa.
SERPENT - oluk; snake.
SERVANT - kahkwa elitee.
SERVE - mamook.
SEVEN - sinamokst.
SEVENTEEN - tahtlum pe sinamokst.
SEVENTY - sinamokst tahtlum.
SEVERAL - tenas hiyu.
SEW, TO — mamook tupshin; mamook sew.
SHACKLE — mamook kow; mahsh chikamin kopa yaka Iamah.
SHAKE, TO - toto; hullel.
SHALL — alki; byby; winapee.
SHALLOW - wake keekwullie.
SHAME - shem.
SHAMELESS — halo shem; halo kumtux shem.
SHARE (it is my) — okoke nikas; okoke kopa nika.
SHARK — hyas kahmooks pish.
SHARP - yakkisilth.
SHARPEN, TO - mamook tsish.
SHATTER - mamook kokshut.
SHE, H E R - y a k a .
SHEEP - lemooto.
SHEET-sail.
SHELL MONEY — coopcoop; allekacheek; hykwa; hiagua.
SHINGLE-lebahdo.
SHINE, TO - mamook kloshe.
SHINING - towagh.
SHIP - ship.
SHIRT - shut.
SHOAL — wake keekwullie.
SHOES — shoes; shush.
SHOOT, TO - mamook poh.
SHORE - illahee.
SHORE (away from) — mahtlinnie.
SHORE (toward) -mahtwillie.
SHORT - yotskut; halo long.
SHORTLY - alki; winapee.
SHOT - tenas lebal; kalitan.
ENGLISH-CHINOOK 151
SHOT POUCH - kalitan lesac; tsolepat.
SHOULDERS - okchok.
SHOUT, TO - hyas wawa.
SHOVEL - lapell.
SHOWER - tenas snass.
SHRIEK — skookum wawa.
SHUDDER - kwass pe shake.
SHUT, TO — ikpooie; mamook ikpooie.
SHY - kwass.
SICK — etsitsa.
SICKEN - mamook sick.
SICKLY - tenas sick.
SIDE— (this side) yukwa; (thatside) yahwa.
SIFT, TO - toto.
SIGH - tenas cly.
SIGHTLESS - halo nanitch; blind.
SIGN — kahkwa picture.
SILENCE - halo noise.
SILENCE, TO - kopet noise.
SILK — lasway; slik cloth; skookum sail.
SILLY — kahkwa pelton.
SILVER — tkope chikamin; tkope dolla.
SIMILAR - kahkwa.
SIMMER - tenas liplip.
SIN, SINFUL - mesachie.
SINCE - kimtah.
SINCERE - delate.
SING, TO - shantie.
SINGLE - kopet ikt.
SINK, TO - mahsh keekwullie.
SINNER — mesachie tillikum.
SIP — muckamuck chuck.
SIRUP — melass; silup.
SISTER ( i f older than speaker) - elip ats.
SISTER ( i f younger than the speaker) — ats.
SISTERLY - kahkwa ats.
SIT, TO - mitlite.
SIX - taghum.
SIXTEEN - tahtlum pe taghum.
SIXTY-ONE - taghum tahtlum pe ikt.
SIZE (what) — kunsih hyas.
SKEPTIC — man yaka halo iskum Saghalie Tyee yaka wawa.
SKILL — kumtux mamook.
SKIN - skin.
SKULL — bone kopa seeowist (point to i t ) .
SKUNK — humm opoots.
SKY — koosah; saghalie.

SLAB — cultus laplash.
SLANDER — mesachie wawa; kliminawhit wawa.
SLAP — mamook kokshut.
SLAVE — elitee; mistchimas.
SLAY — mamook memaloose.
SLEEP — moosum; sleep.
SLEEPLESS — halo moosum; halo sleep.
SLEEPY — ticky moosum; ticky sleep.
SLEIGHT OF H A N D - tahmahnawis.
SLIGHT (small) -tenas.
SLING, TO - mahsh.
SLING — tenas lope kopa mahsh stone.
SLIP — wake siah fall down.
SLIPPERY - cultus; loholoh.
SLOW, SLOWLY - klawah; wakehyak.
SLUT — klootchman kahmooks.
SLY — ipsoot.
SMALL — tenas.
SMELL (a) - h u m m .
SMILE — tenas hehe.
SMITE — mamook kokshut.
SMOKE - smoke.
SMOKE, TO - mamook smoke.
SMOKY (very) —hiyu smoke.
SMOOTH - kloshe.
SNAKE - oluk.
SNARE, TRAP - lepiege.
SNOW — snow, cole snass.
SO — kahkwa.
SOAK — mitlite kopa chuck.
SOAP — soap.
SOFT-klimmin.
SOIL - illahee.
SOLDIER — sogah (army—hiyu sogahs).
SOLELY - kopet.
SOLICIT - wawa; ask.
SOLITARY - kopet ikt.
SOME — tenas hiyu; sitkum.
SOMETIMES - tenas hiyu times.
SOMEBODY - ikt man; klonas klaksta.
SON - tenas.
SOON - alki.
SORCERER - tahmahnawis man.
SORE - sick.
SORRY, SORROW - sick tumtum.
ENGLISH-CHINOOK 153
SOUL - tumtum.
SOUND - noise; latlah.
SOUP — lasup; liplip muckamuck.
SOUR - kwates.
SOUTH — kah sun mitlite kopa sitkum sun.
SOW — klootchman cosho.
SOW, TO - mahsh.
SPADE - lapell.
SPARK - tenas piah.
SPARROW - tenas kalakala.
SPEAK, TO - wawa.
SPEAKER — wawa man; man yaka kumtux wawa.
SPECTACLES — glass seeowist; dolla seeowist; lakit seeowist.
SPEED, SPEEDY - hyak.
SPEND - mahsh.
SPIDER — skookum (when spoken of as a tahmahnawis).
SPILL, TO - wagh; mahsh.
SPINE — bone kopa back.
SPIRIT - tumtum; life.
SPIRIT (guardian) — tahmahnawis.
SPIRITS - lum; whiskey.
SPIT — mahsh lapush chuck.
SPIT, TO - toh; mamook toll.
SPLENDID - hyas kloshe.
SPLIT — kokshut; chako kokshut; chako tsugh.
SPLIT, TO — mamook tsugh; mamook kokshut.
SPOIL — spoil; chako spoil.
SPOIL, TO — mamook spoil; mamook mesachie; mamook cultus.
SPOON - spoon.
SPORT - hehe.
SPOTTED - tzum; lekye.
SPRING — tenas waum illahee.
SPRING, TO - sopena.
SPURS - leseeblo.
SPY — nanitch skookum.
SQUALL — skookum wind pe snass.
SQUAW — Siwash klootchman.
SQUEAL — wawa kahkwa cosho.
SQUEEZE - kwutl.
SQUIRREL - kwiskwis.
STAB, TO — klemahun; mamook cut; mamook kokshut kopa knife.
STABLE - kuitan house.
STAG — man mowitch.
STAGE - chikchik.
STAGGER — klatawa kahkwa pahtlum man.
STALE - oieman.
STAMPS (postage) — tzum seeowist.

STAND, TO - mitwhit.
STARE — skookum nanitch.
STARS - tsiltsil; chilchil.
START - klatawa; chee klatawa.
STATE - hyas illahee.
STAY,TO-mitlite.
STEADY (be) -kloshe nanitch.
STEAL, TO - kapswolla.
STEAM - smoke.
STEAMER - piah ship; steamboat.
STEEL — chikamin; piah chikamin.
STEER (animal) — tenas man moosmoos.
STENCH - humm; piupiu.
STERN (rear)-opoots.
STEW — mamook liplip; lakanim.
STICK - stick.
STICK, TO — mamook cut; mamook kwutl.
STILL (be) — kloshekopet.
STILL (quiet) -kloshe.
STING — opoots klemahun.
STINK (a) —piupiu; humm.
STIR — tenas klatawa.
STIRRUP - sitlay.
STOCKINGS - stocken; kushis.
STOMACH - belly; yakwahtin.
STONE - stone.
STONY — kahkwa stone; stone mitlite.
STOOPED - lagh.
STOP (command) —kopet.
STOP, TO — mamook kopet; ikpooie.
STORE — mahkook house.
STOREKEEPER - mahkook man.
STORM — (wind) hiyu wind; (rain) hiyu snass.
STORY — ekkahnam; wawa; yiem.
STOVE - stob; chikamin piah.
STRAIGHT - delate; delet; sipah.
STRAIGHTEN - mamook delate.
STRANGE - huloima tillikum.
STRAP - skin lope.
STRAP, TO - mamook kow.
STRAWBERRIES - amoteh.
STRAY — cultus klatawa; klatawa kah.
STREAM — chuck; cooley chuck.
STREET - ooahut kopa town.
STRIKE — mamook kokshut.
ENGLISH-CHINOOK 155
STRING - tenas lope.
STRIPES - tzum.
STRIVE — mamook skookum.
STROLL — cultus klatawa; cultus cooley.
STRONG-skookum.
STRONGLY - kahkwa skookum.
STUDENT — school tenas; tenas kopa school.
STUDY — mamook tumtum kopa pepah (or book).
STUPENDOUS - delate hyas.
STUPID - halo latate; kahkwa pelton.
STUPOR — kahkwa memaloose.
STURGEON - stutchin.
SUBMERGE — mahsh keekwullie kopa chuck.
SUBMIT - kopet.
SUBSCRIBE - mamook tzum.
SUBSEQUENT - kimtah.
SUBTRACT - mamook haul.
SUCCEED - tolo.
SUCH - kahkwa.
SUCK — muckamuck.
SUDDEN, SUDDENLY - hyak.
SUGAR — shugah; lesook.
SUGARY - kahkwa shugah.
SUICIDE, TO COMMIT - mamook memaloose yaka self.
SUITABLE - kloshe.
SULKY, SULLEN - solleks.
SUM — konaway.
SUMMER - waum illahee.
SUMMON — wawa kloshe yaka chako.
SUN — sun, otelagh.
SUNDAY - Sunday; Sante.
SUNLIGHT - sun yaka light.
SUNRISE — tenas sun; get up sun.
SUNSET — tenas polaklie; klip sun.
SUP, SUPPER — muckamuck kopa tenas polaklie.
SUPPORT — kloshe nanitch; potlatch muckamuck pe konaway iktas.
SUPPOSE - spose.
SUPREME — elip hyas kopa konaway.
SURE — delate; delate kumtux.
SURGEON - doctin.
SURMISE — mamook tumtum; tumtum.
SURPRISE — mamook tumtum; ikta okoke.
SURRENDER - kopet.
SURVEY — mamook tzum illahee.
SURVIVOR — man halo memaloose.
SWALLOW - tenas kalakala.
SWALLOW, TO - muckamuck.
SWAN — kehloke; kahloken; cocumb; ouwucheh; keluk; kaloke.
SWAP - huyhuy.
SWEAR — wawa mesachie; mamook swear.
SWEAT - chuck kopa skin.
SWEEP, TO - mamook bloom.
SWEET - tsee.
SWELL — chako hyas; powil.
SWIFT - hyak.
SWIFT WATER - skookum chuck.
SWIM — sitshum; mamook swim.
SWINE - cosho.
SWING - hang.
T
TABLE - latahb.
TACKS — tenas nails; tenas lekloo.
T A I L - opoots.
TAKE, TO - iskum.
TAKE CARE - kloshe nanitch.
TAKE OFF, OR TAKE OUT - mamook haul; mamook klah; mamook klak;
mahsh.
T A L E , OR STORY - wawa; yiem; ekkahnam.
T A L K — wawa.
TALKATIVE - hiyu wawa.
T A L L - hyas tall.
T A L L O W — moosmoos glease.
TAMBOURINE OR I N D I A N DRUM - pompon.
TAME — halo wind; halo lemolo; kwan.
TAME, TO - mamook kwan.
TAP — tenas kokshut.
TART — tenas sour; tenas kwates.
TASK — mamook.
TASTE — tenas muckamuck.
T A T T L E — cultus wawa; yiem.
TAVERN — muckamuck house.
TEA - tea.
TEACH, TO — mamook kumtux; mamook teach.
TEAR — chuck kopa seeowist; kluh.
TEAT - tatoosh.
TEDIOUS - till; long.
T E E T H - latah.
T E L L , TO — wawa; yiem.
TEMPLE — hyas church house.
TEMPT — haul kopa mesachie.
T E N - tahtlum.
ENGLISH-CHINOOK 157
TEND - kloshe nanitch.
TENDER — wake kull; wake skookum.
TENT - s a i l house.
TERM (of school) - kwata.
TERRIBLE, TERROR - delate hyas mesachie.
TERRITORY - hyas illahee,
TESTICLE - stone.
TESTIMONY - wawa kopa court.
TESTIFY — wawa kopa court; delate yiem.
T H A N - kopa.
THANKS, T H A N K F U L - mahsie.
T H A T - okoke.
T H A T WAY - yahwa.
T H A W — (water) chako chuck; (land) chako klimmin.
T H E — sometimes okoke is used—a very definite "the" almost equal to "that."
THEE - mika.
T H E F T - kapswolla.
THEIR, THEIRS - klaska.
T H E M - klaska.
THEMSELVES - klaska self.
THERE - yahwa; kopa.
THEREABOUT - wake siah yahwa.
THEY - klaska.
THICK (like molasses) - pitlill.
T H I E F — kapswolla man; tillikum, yaka kumtux kapswolla.
T H I G H — lepee yahwa (pointing to it).
T H I N (like paper) — pewhattie.
T H I N E - mika.
T H I N G - ikta.
THINGS - iktas.
T H I N K — tumtum; mamook tumtum.
T H I R D - klone.
THIRSTY - olo kopa chuck.
T H I R T E E N - tahtlum pe klone.
THIRTY - klone tahtlum.
THIRTY-ONE - klone tahtlum pe ikt.
THIS - okoke.
THIS WAY - yukwa.
THITHER - yahwa.
THORN - needle kopa stick.
THOROUGH - delate.
THOSE - okoke.
THOU, THY, THINE - mika.
THOUGHT - tumtum.
THOUGHTLESS - halo tumtum.
THOUSAND - thousand; tahtlum tukamonuk.
THRASH - mamook pat.

THREAD - klapite.
THREAT - mamook kwass.
THREE - klone.
THRONG - hiyu tillikums.
THROW, THRUST, THROW AWAY - mahsh.
T H U M B - lamah (pointing to it.)
THUNDER — skookum noise kopa saghalie.
THURSDAY - lakit sun.
THUS - kahkwa.
THYSELF - mika self.
T I D E — chuck chako pe klatawa.
T I E , TO — mamook kow.
TIGER — hyas pusspuss.
TIMBER - stick.
T I M E - laly.
T I M I D - kwass.
T I N , TINWARE - malah; tin; matah.
T I N T - tzum.
TIP, TO - lagh.
TIRE (of a wagon) — chikchik; chikamin.
TIRED-till.
TO, TOWARDS - kopa.
TOBACCO — bacca; kinootl; kinoos; kimoolth.
TODAY - okoke sun.
TOGETHER - kunamokst.
TOMB — memaloose illahee.
TOMORROW - tomolla.
TONGUE - lalang.
TONIGHT - okoke polaklie.
TOO — kunamokst.
TOOTHACHE - sick kopa tooth.
TOP - saghalie.
TORN - kokshut.
TORPID — kahkwa memaloose.
TOSS — mahsh.
T O T A L - konaway.
TOUGH - skookum; kull.
TOW — mamook haul.
TOWARD - kopa.
TOWEL — sail yaka mamook dly; seeowist pe lamah.
TRACK - tzum kah.
TRADE - huyhuy; mahkook.
TRADESMAN - mahkook man.
TRADITION - ahnkuttie tillikums klaska wawa.
T R A I L — ooahut; tenas ooahut.
ENGLISH-CHINOOK 159
TRAMP — klatawa kopa lepee.
TRANSFER - lolo.
TRANSGRESSOR - mesachie man.
TRANSLATE — mamook cooley kopa huloima lalang.
TRANSMIT - mahsh; send.
TRAP-lepiege.
TRASH - cultus iktas.
TRAVEL - klatawa; cooley.
TRAVELER — man yaka hiyu cooley.
TREACHEROUS - hyas tseepe; mesachie.
TREASURER - tillikum yaka kloshe nanitch dolla.
TREE - stick.
TREE, F A L L E N - whim stick.
TREMBLE, SHAKE - hullel.
TRIBE - lalang.
TRICK — tseepe mamook.
T R I M , TO — mamook cut; mamook kloshe.
TROT, TO - tehteh.
TROUBLE - trouble.
TROUBLE, TO - mamook trouble; mamook till tumtum.
TROUSERS - sakoleks.
TROUT — trout; tenas fish; tzum sammon; tenas sammon.
TRUE - delate; halo kliminawhit.
TRUTH - delate wawa.
TRUNK - lacaset.
TUB - tamolitsh.
TUESDAY-mokst sun.
TURN - killapi; howh.
TURNIP - turnip; lenawo.
T W E L V E - tahtlum pe mokst.
TWENTY - mokst tahtlum.
TWENTY-ONE - mokst tahtlum pe ikt.
T W I L I G H T - tenas polaklie.
T W I N E - tenas lope; klapite.
TWIST — mamook killapi (showing how).
TWO, T W I C E - mokst.
TYRO - halo kumtux.
U
UDDER - tatoosh.
UGLY — cultus; wake toketie.
U L T I M A T E - kimtah; halo huloima.
UMBRELLA — tenas sail house kopa snass.
UNABLE — wake skookum.
UNACCUSTOMED, UNACQUAINTED - halo kumtux.
UNAWARE - halo kumtux.
UNBELIEF — halo iskum kopa tumtum.
U N B I N D - mahsh kow.
UNCEASING - kwonesum.
UNCHRISTIAN - halo kahkwa Jesus.
UNCIVILIZED - wild.
UNCLE — tot; uncle; papa or mama yaka ow; chee.
UNCLEAN — hiyu mesachie mitlite.
UNCONSCIOUS - kahkwa memaloose.
UNCORK — mamook open.
UNDER - keekwullie.
UNDERSTAND - kumtux.
UNDOUBTED - delate.
UNDRESS - mahsh iktas.
UNDYING - halo memaloose.
UNEQUAL - wake kahkwa.
UNEXPECTED (to me) — nika tumtum halo yaka chako kahkwa.
UNEXPLORED - halo klaksta nanitch.
UNFASTEN - mahsh kow.
UNFAVORABLE - halo kloshe.
UNFINISHED - halo kopet.
UNGODLY - mesachie.
UNHAPPY - sick tumtum.
U N I N T E L L I G I B L E - halo kumtux.
U N I T - ikt.
U N I T E — mamook join; mamook kunamokst; chako kunamokst.
UNIVERSAL - konaway.
UNIVERSE — konaway illahee konaway kah.
UNJUST - wake delate.
U N K I N D - wake kloshe.
UNKNOWN - halo kumtux.
U N L A W F U L — wake kloshe kopa law.
U N L O A D - mahsh iktas.
UNLOCK — mamook halo lekleh.
UNMEANING - cultus; pelton.
UNNOTICED - halo nanitch.
UNPOPULAR — konaway tillikums halo ticky kahkwa.
UNSALABLE — wake kloshe kopa mahkook.
UNTAMED - lemolo; wild.
UNTIE, TO — mahsh kow; mamook stoh.
UNTO - kopa.
UNTOLD - halo wawa.
UNTRUE - kliminawhit.
UNTURNED - halo killapi.
UNUSUAL - huloima.
U N W I L L I N G - halo ticky.
U N W I N D — mamook killapi.
ENGLISH-CHINOOK 161
UNWISE - pelton.
UNWHOLESOME - wake kloshe.
UNWORTHY - halo kloshe; wake kloshe; mesachie.
UP — saghalie.
UPBRAID - cultus wawa.
UPHEAVE — mahsh kopa saghalie.
UPHOLD — mamook help; mamook skookum.
UPLAND — saghalie iUahee.
UPON — saghalie kopa.
UPPER, UPPERMOST - elip saghalie.
UPRIGHT - delate; kloshe; mitwhit.
UPSET, UPSIDE D O W N - killapi.
UPWARD - saghalie.
URGE — skookum wawa.
URINATE - mahsh chuck.
US — nesika.
USE — mamook use.
USEFUL - kloshe.
USELESS - cultus.
USUAL — kahkwa kwonesum.
UTENSIL - ikta.
V
VACANT - halo.
VACCINATE — mahsh lametsin kopa lamah yaka kloshe kopa smallpox.
VAGABOND - cultus tillikum.
V E I L — sail kopa seeowist.
V A I N - yotl; ploud.
V A L I A N T — skookum tumtum.
VALISE — tenas lacaset.
V A L L E Y — kloshe illahee; cooley.
VANISH - chako halo.
VARY — mamook huloima.
VARIED (be) - chako huloima.
VAST - hyas.
V E A L — tenas moosmoos yaka itlwillie.
VEGETABLES — konaway muckamuck chako kopa illahee.
V E H E M E N T - skookum.
VEHICLE - chikchik.
V E I N — kah pilpil mitlite (pointing to i t ) .
VENGEANCE - hyas solleks.
VENISON - mowitch itlwillie.
VERILY - delate.
V E R M I N - inapoo.
VERY - hyas.
VERY SMALL - hyas tenas.
L
VESSEL - ship.
VEST - lawest.
VICE — mesachie.
VICINITY - wake siah.
VICTOR - tillikum yaka tolo.
VICTORY - tolo.
VICTUALS - muckamuck.
V I E W - nanitch.
V I G I L — wake moosum.
V I L E — mesachie.
V I L L A G E - tenas town.
V I L L A I N — mesachie tillikum.
V I N E — stick; yotlkut tupso; stick kahkwa lope.
VIOLENT -skookum.
V I O L I N - tintin.
VIRGIN — wake kumtux man.
VIRTUOUS -kloshe.
VISION - nanitch.
VISIT — klatawa pe nanitch.
VOICE - wawa.
VOLCANO — piah mountain.
VOMIT, TO — wagh; mahsh muckamuck; muckamuck killapi.
VOTE — mamook vote.
VOYAGE — klatawa kopa boat or ship.
W
W A D E — klatawa kopa lepee kopa chuck.
W A G — hehe man.
WAGON - chikchik; tsiktsik.
W A I L — hiyu cly.
W A I T — mitlite winapee.
WAKE — halo sleep; halo moosum.
W A K E N — mamook get up.
W A L K — klatawa kopa lepee.
W A L L — skookum kullah.
W A L T Z - tanse.
W A M P U M (shell money) — hykwa, coopcoop, allekacheek.
WANDER, TO - cultus klatawa; tsolo.
WANT,TO-ticky.
WAR - pight.
WARBLE — sing kahkwa kalakala.
WARM — waum.
WARRIOR - pight tillikum; sogah.
WASH, TO — mamook wash.
WASP - andialh.
WASTE — cultus lost; cultus mahsh.
ENGLISH-CHINOOK 163
W A T C H - tiktik.
W A T C H , TO - kloshe nanitch.
W A T C H M A N — man yaka kwonesum kloshe nanitch.
WATER - chuck.
W A T E R F A L L - tumwata.
WATERSPOUT - chuck ooahut.
WAVER — wake skookum.
WAVES — hiyu sea; chuck chako solleks.
WAY — ooahut; wayhut.
WE — nesika.
WEAK — wake skookum; halo skookum.
WEAR - mitlite.
WEARY - t i l l .
WEDDING -mallie.
WEDNESDAY - klone sun.
W E E D — cultus tupso.
WEEK - Sunday; week.
WEEP - cly.
W E I G H , TO - mamook till.
W E L C O M E (to you) — kloshe tumtum mika chako.
WELL-kloshe.
W E L L , T H E N - abba.
W E N T - klatawa.
WEST - kah sun klatawa.
W E T — pahtl chuck; chuck mitlite.
W H A L E - ekkoli.
W H A T - ikta.
W H E A T - sapolil; lewhet.
W H E E L - chikchik; tsiktsik.
W H E N - kunsih.
WHENCE - kah.
WHERE-kah.
W H E T — mamook sharp.
W H I C H - klaksta.
W H I N E — wawa kahkwa cly.
W H I P - lewhet.
WHISKEY - k m ; whiskey.
WHISPER — tenas wawa (showing how); ipsoot wawa.
W H I S T L E — mamook wind kopa lapush.
W H I T E - tkope.
W H I T E N - mamook tkope.
W H I T E W A S H - mamook pent tkope.
W H O - klaksta.
W H O L E — konaway.
WHOSE-klaksta.
W H Y - kahta.
W I C K E D — mesachie; peshak.
W I D E - klukulh.
W I D O W — klootchman yaka man memaloose.
W I F E - klootchman.
W I L D - lemolo.
W I L D CAT — hyas pusspuss; siwash pusspuss.
W I L D ONION - ulalach.
W I L L (the) - t u m t u m .
W I L L O W - eena stick.
W I N , TO - tolo.
W I N D - wind.
W I N D INSTRUMENT - tuletule.
W I N D O W - selokemil.
WINDY - hiyu wind.
W I N E - wine.
W I N G - tepeh.
W I N K — mamook seeowist.
W I N N O W - mamook toto.
WINTER - cole illahee.
WINTRY - kahkwa cole illahee.
WIPE, TO - mamook dly.
WIRE — chikamin lope.
WISDOM - kumtux.
WISE-kumtux.
WISH, TO - ticky.
W I T C H — tahmahnawis.
W I T H — kunamokst; kopa.
W I T H D R A W - mamook killapi.
W I T H O U T (not any) - halo.
W I T H O U T (not in) - klahanie.
W O L F - leloo.
W O L F (prairie) — talapus.
W O M A N — klootchman.
WOMANLY - kahkwa klootchman.
WOMAN (old)-lamai.
WOMB — lesak kopa klootchman kah tenas mitlite; belly.
WONDER — mamook tumtum.
WOO — hyas ticky.
WOOD, WOODEN - stick.
WOODPECKER - koko stick.
WOOL — sheep yaka tupso lemooto yakso.
WORD - wawa.
WORK, TO - mamook.
WORLD — konaway okoke illahee.
WORN OUT - oleman; cultus.
WORRY - sick tumtum.
ENGLISH-CHINOOK 165
WORSHIP - wawa kopa Saghalie Tyee.
WORSE — elip mesachie; kimtah kloshe.
WORST — elip mesachie kopa konaway.
WORTHLESS - cultus.
WORTHY - kloshe.
W O U N D , TO — kwult mamook cut; klemahun.
WRAP — mamook kow.
WRESTLE - mamook pight.
WRETCHED - hyas sick tumtum.
WRIST - lamah yahwa (point to it).
WRITE, TO — mamook tzum; mamook pepah.
W R I T I N G - tzum.
WRITER - tzum man.
WRONG - wake kloshe.
Y
YANKEE - Boston man.
YARD - ikt stick.
Y A W N — ticky moosum.
YEAR - ikt cole.
YEARN - hyas ticky.
YELL — hyas skookum wawa.
Y E L L O W - kawkawak.
YELP — kahmooks wawa.
YES — nowitka; ahha.
YES, I N D E E D - nowitka.
YESTERDAY - tahlkie sun.
YESTERNIGHT - tahlkie polaklie.
Y I E L D - kopet.
YONDER - yahwa.
YOU, YOUR (if singular) - mika.
YOU, YOUR ( i f plural) - mesika.
YOUNG - tenas.
YOUNGER - elip tenas.
YOUNGEST - elip tenas kopa konaway.
YOURSELF - mika self.
APPENDIX
During the past century there have been many Chinook dictionaries
compiled and printed, and there have also been many attempts by
early travelers, pioneers, and missionaries to gather Chinook Jargon
into more or less complete vocabularies. The task of examining these
has required painstaking and patient effort on the part of the present
writer. Following is a list of reference books, including several articles,
which the present compiler used in preparing this dictionary and
history:
Allen, A. J., Compiler. Ten Years in Oregon; travels and adventures
of Doctor E. White and lady west of the Rocky Mountains ...
containing also a brief history of the missions and settlement of
the country; origin of the Provisional Government; number and
customs of the Indians; incidents witnessed in the territory;
description of the soil, production and climate of the country.
Ithaca, N. Y., Mack, 1848.
Thrilling adventures, travel, and explorations of Dr. Elijah
White, among the Rocky Mountains and in the far West. New
York, Yale, 1859.
Armstrong, A. N. Oregon; comprising a brief history and full descrip-
tion of the territories of Oregon and Washington, the Indian
tribes of the Pacific slope, their manners, etc., interspersed with
incidents of travel and adventure. Chicago, Scott, 1857.
Bancroft, Hubert Howe. Native Races of the Pacific states of North
America. New York, Bancroft Co., 1882.
Blanchet, Francis Norbert. A Comprehensive, Explanatory, Correct
Pronouncing Dictionary and Jargon Vocabulary; to which is
added numerous conversations enabling any person to speak the
Chinook jargon. Portland, Oregon Territory, S. J. McCormick,
1853.
Boas, Franz. Chinook Jargon Songs. In Journal of American Folk
Lore, Vol. 1, 1888.
Bolduc, Jean Baptiste. Mission de la Colombie. Quebec, Frechette,
1845.
Buchanan, Charles Milton. Elementary Lessons in the Chinook Jar-
gon as Used by the Indians of Puget Sound. Mss., Tulalip, Wash-
ington, 1900.
167
Cook, James. A Voyage to the Pacific Ocean; undertaken by the com-

mand of His Majesty for making discoveries in the Northern
Hemisphere. London, Stockdale, 1784.
Coombs, Samuel F. Dictionary of the Chinook Jargon; as spoken on
Puget Sound and the Northwest, with original Indian names for
prominent places and localities with their meanings. Seattle,
Washington, Lowman & Hanford, 1891. It follows Gill very
closely in its Chinook-English part and has no English-Chinook
part.
Cox, Ross. Adventures on the Columbia River, including the narra-
tive of a residence of six years on the western side of the Rocky
Mountains. London, Colburn, 1831.
The Columbia River; or, Scenes and adventures during a
residence of six years on the western side of the Rocky Moun-
tains. London, Colburn, 1832.
Demers, Modeste. Chinook Dictionary, Catechism; prayers and
hymns composed in 1838 and 1839; revised, corrected and com-
pleted in 1867 by F. N. Blanchet; with modifications and addi-
tions by L. N. St. Onge. Montreal, 1871.
Dictionary of Indian Tongues . . . Tsimpsean, Hydah, and
Chinook Jargon. Victoria, B. C, 1862.
Dunn, John. History of the Oregon Territory and British North-Amer-
ican Fur Trade; with an account of the habits and customs of the
principal native tribes on the northern continent. London,
Edwards, 1846. Contains thirty Chinook Jargon words and ex-
pressions.
Durieu, Paul. Bible History . . . Translated into the Chinook Jargon.
Kamloops, B. C, Benziger, 1893. Four hundred and thirty-one
Chinook Jargon words. No English-Chinook part.
Eells, Myron. Manuscript Dictionary of the Chinook Jargon. 5 vols,
folio, 1893. Following is a note from Eells' Introduction to his
dictionary:
"A number of dictionaries have been published in the Chinook
Jargon language, and it may seem superfluous to write another;
still thus far all of them are small and are based on the language
as it was forty or fifty years ago. Gibbs' Dictionary was for many
years by far the best, and is yet in many respects, as it gives the
origin of nearly all the words and much other valuable informa-
tion, but it was written nearly forty years ago. I have used it
very much in preparing this work. Hale's Trade Language of
Oregon or Chinook Jargon is recent and is excellent, especially
in its Introductory part; far better than any which preceded it,
but that excellent man and scholar has labored under the disad-
vantage of not having mingled much with those who have used
the language for about fifty years, and so has been unable to note
APPENDIX 169
a great share of the changes which have taken place. The dic-
tionaries of Gill, Hibben, Tate, Lowman and Hanford and Good
are all small; are in as condensed form as possible, being intended
for pocket use for travellers, traders and learners, and in this
way have done good work for what they were intended. The
two latter, however, only have the Chinook English part. The
dictionary of Durieu is very meager, while that of Demers and
St. Onge is out of print, and both are intended rather more for
use by the Catholics than by the public. ...
"Having used it (Jargon) for eighteen years, having talked
in it, sung in it, prayed and preached in it, translated consider-
able into it, and thought in it, I thought I knew a little about the
language, but when I began to write this dictionary I found that
there was very much which I did not know about it, but which
I wished to know in order to make this dictionary as perfect as
it should be. ..."
History of Indian Missions on the Pacific Coast; Oregon, Wash-
ington, and Idaho. Philadelphia, American Sunday-School
Union, circa 1882.
Hymns in the Chinook Jargon Language. Portland, Oregon,
Himes, 1881.
Ten Years of Missionary Work among the Indians at Skoko-
mish, Washington Territory. Boston, Congregational Sunday-
School, circa 1886.
Gibbs, George. A Dictionary of the Chinook Jargon, or, Trade Lan-
guage of Oregon. New York, Cramoisy, 1863. This was by far
the best dictionary at that time and will ever remain a standard
authority on the language of that time. In the Chinook-English
part are 490 words, and in the English-Chinook, 792.
Gill, John K. GilTs Dictionary of the Chinook Jargon. Portland, Ore-
gon, 1882. In the Chinook-English part are 560 words, and in
the English-Chinook, 1,378.
Good, John Booth. A Vocabulary and Outlines of Grammar of the
Nitlakapamuk or Thompson Tongue (the Indian language
spoken between Yale, Lillooet, Cache Creek and 'Nicola Lake);
together with a phonetic Chinook dictionary adapted for use in
the province of British Columbia. Victoria, B. C, St. Paul's Mis-
sion Press, 1880. It has no Chinook-English part. In the English-
Chinook he gives 825 words.
Hale, Horatio E. An International Idiom; a Manual of the Oregon
Trade Language, or Chinook Jargon. London, Whittaker, 1890.
Four hundred and seventy-three Chinook Jargon words; 634 in
the English-Chinook part.
Hazlitt, William C. British Columbia and Vancouver Island; compris-
170 CHINOOK: A HISTOBY A N D DICTIONARY
ing a historical sketch of the British settlements in the Northwest

coast of America. London, Routledge, 1858.
Jewitt, John Rodgers. A Narrative of the Adventures and Sufferings
of John R. Jewitt, Only Survivor of the Crew of the Ship Boston;
during a captivity of nearly three years among the savages of
Nootka Sound, with an account of the manners, mode of living,
and religious opinions of the natives. (Written by Richard Alsop).
Middleton, Conn., Loomis & Richards, 1815.
Lee, Daniel, and Frost, J. H. Ten Years in Oregon. New York, Col-
lord, 1844.
Lejeune, John M. Chinook and Shorthand Rudiments, with which
the Chinook Jargon and the Wawa Shorthand can be mastered
without a teacher in a few hours, by the editor of the "Kamloops
Wawa." Kamloops, B. C, 1898.
Chinook Primer. Kamloops, B. C, St. Louis Mission, 1892.
Practical Chinook Jargon Vocabulary. Kamloops, B. C, St.
Louis Mission, 1886.
Macdonald, Duncan G. British Columbia and Vancouver's Island,
Comprising a Description of These Dependencies; also an ac-
count of the manners and customs of the native Indians. London,
Longman, 1862.
Macfie, Matthew. Vancouver Island and British Columbia; their his-
tory, resources and prospects. London, Longman, 1865.
Norris, Philetus W. The Calumet of the Coteau and Other Poetical
legends of the Border; also a glossary of Indian names, words
and western provincialisms. Philadelphia, Lippincott, 1883.
Palmer, Joel. Journal of Travels over the Rocky Mountains to the
Mouth of the Columbia River, 1845 and 1846 ... including
about 300 words of the Chinook Jargon. Cincinnati, James, 1847.
Parker, Samuel. Journal of an Exploring Tour beyond the Rocky
Mountains; under the direction of the American Board of Com-
missioners for Foreign Missions, in the years 1835, 1836, and
1837; containing a description of the geography, geology, climate,
productions of the country, and the number, manners, and cus-
toms of the natives. Ithaca, New York, 1838.
Phillips, Walter S. Totem Tales; Indian stories Indians told, gathered
in the Pacific Northwest, with a glossary of words, customs and
history of the Indians. Chicago, Star, circa 1896.
Pilling, James C. Bibliography of the Chinookan Languages, Includ-
ing the Chinook Jargon. Washington, D. C, 1893.
Bibliography of the Wakashan Languages. Washington, D. C,
1893.
Ross, Alexander. Adventures of the First Settlers on the Oregon or
Columbia River; being a narrative of the expedition fitted out
APPENDIX 171
by John Jacob Astor to establish the "Pacific Fur Company';

with an account of some Indian tribes on the coast of the Pacific,
by one of the adventurers. London, Smith & Elder, 1849.
Ross gives a "Chinook Vocabulary" and words of the "mixed
dialect." His Chinook, however, is impure.
Schoolcraft, Henry R. Indian Tribes of the United States. Phila-
delphia, 1851.
Scouler, John. "Observations on the Indigenous Tribes of the North-
west Coast of America." Journal of the Royal Geographical
Society of London, Vol. 11, London, 1841.
"On the Indian Tribes Inhabiting the Northwest Coast of
America." New Philosophical JournaT,Vol. 41. Edinburgh, 1846.
Shaw, George. The Chinook Jargon and How to Use It; a complete
and exhaustive lexicon of the oldest trade language of the Amer-
ican continent. Seattle, Rainier Printing Co., 1909.
240 Chinook Jargon Words Used by the Siwash on Puget
Sound and by Indians and whites of the great Pacific Northwest
for nearly 150 years. Edited by Nika Tikegh Chikamin (George
Coombs Shaw). Seattle, Johnson, 1932.
Sproat, Gilbert M. Scenes and Studies of Savage Life. London, Smith
& Elder, 1868.
Swan, James G. The Northwest Coast; or, Three Years' Residence in
Washington Territory. London, Sampson Low, 1857.
In the appendix is a rather full vocabulary—327 words. Judge
Swan lived on Shoalwater Bay, Washington, near the Chehalis
and Chinook Indians, and he includes a number of words which
are given by no other writer, which he says are of Chehalis origin.
Tate, Charles M. Chinook as Spoken by the Indians of Washington
Territory, British Columbia, and Alaska; for the use of traders,
tourists and others who have business intercourse with the In-
dians. Chinook-English, English-Chinook. Victoria, B. G, Waitt,
1889.
Winthrop, Theodore. The Canoe and the Saddle; adventures among
the northwestern rivers and forests, and Isthmiana. Boston,
Ticknor, 1863. Two hundred and sixty-one Chinook words.
There is no English-Chinook part.
CHINOOK:
A History and Dictionary
BY EDWARD HARPER THOMAS
Long of interest to students of Northwest history, Chinook
Jargon is rapidly finding a new k i n d of reader, one casually but
humanly curious about the ancient red man's language of trade
and diplomacy.
At one time this Jargon must have been spoken by a hundred
thousand Indians, whites, and mixed bloods of the Pacific
Northwest Coast. In current speech it appears only rarely in a
nostalgic w o r d or phrase. Y e t it is a language of permanence.
The place names of the Northwest and the history of the
trappers and traders are storehouses for its pungent, sometimes
poetic syllables.
The author-compiler, Edward Harper Thomas, gathered and
verified his massive amount of fact over many years. So
thorough was this research that now after over three decades
his dictionary and history are here reprinted in unchallenged
accuracy.
It was his theory that the Jargon began in the trade neces-
sities of prehistoric slaves and in shell money commerce
between the Lower Chinooks and the Nootkans. Adding a word
from one tribe then another, the language gradually was
spoken by all the Indians of the Northwest Coast. It became a
clearing house for t r i b a l dialects.
W i t h the coming of the w h i t e man and his addition of French
and English words, the Jargon grew adequate for all necessary
communication between h i m and the natives in the region ex-
tending from what is now southern Oregon to southeastern
Alaska and from the shores of the Pacific east to the Rocky
Mountains. Nearly all of the early settlers of Oregon, Washing-
ton, and B r i t i s h Columbia, miners, loggers, and traders talked it
as easily and constantly as the natives. It fell into disuse as these
settlers increased.
But its blunt force and charm linger. In the dictionary
sections of the book many of the definitions are fascinating
reading. Many of the explanations are r i c h in shades of meaning
and illustrations from Indian lore w h i c h point up their proper
use. Forms of spellings and pronunciations are clear. Since both
the English and Chinook vocabularies have alphabetical list-
ings, translations are simplified.
Even the random reader w i l l discover here much fascinating
fact but he w i l l also surely find a new depth of insight into the
minds of the once-mighty Indian tribes of the Northwest Coast.

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A History and Dictionary

Of the Northwest Coast Trade Jargon

THE CENTURIES-OLD TRADE LANGUAGE

A HISTORY OF ITS ORIGIN AND ITS

BINFORDS & MORT, Publishers

LIBRARY OF CONGRESS CATALOG N U M B E R : 79-116971

Printed in the United States of America

Part One: A History

Part Two: A DICTIONARY

G R A M M A R OF THE JARGON ...,. 53

IT IS NOW MORE THAN A HUNDRED

As the French-Canadian and English and American traders in-

bination of letters forming the Chinook word lumpechuck (rum and

A M O N G T H E NATIVE RACES OF NORTH A M E R I C A

no known key and no way provided to mark the distinction between

United States government expert, estimated the 1492 population of

T H E THEORY OF C O M M O N ORIGIN IS SUPPORTED

tongues that it is not easy to explain them in a few sentences.

The validity of these conclusions is shown by the ease with which

lamet, also Chinookan in speech. These three groups occupied a

Conditions in primitive days preclude the possibility of any social

much so, no doubt, as his acquired knowledge of the habits of the

T H E R E WERE SEVERAL SUCH JARGONS. One of

unknown centuries. It is still occasionally spoken, though no longer

4. THE JARGON BEFORE THE TRADING POST

I T MUST BE REMEMBERED THAT all this was

enriched it by the addition of many words of French and English

it slowly developed by accretion in their increasing contact with

6. CHINOOKS, CLATSOPS A N D COAST TRIBES

The Multnomahs were of the Chinook family. The Tillamooks

tribe. A little above this village on the Willamette was a Klickitat

PRIOR TO 1800 THERE WAS HARDLY A N Y REFER-

do not understand—when they tried to converse with him. The wik

9. JARGON WORDS IN J E W I T T S VOCABULARY

THERE ARE TWO JARGON WORDS USED BY

among them—notably Meares in 1788, Jewitt in 1803 and Lewis and

ployed is found in the concluding phrase of Told in the Hills (1891)

equivalent of "go away." Go in the Chinook Jargon is just klatawa,

10. C H I N O O K TEXTS OF FRANZ BOAS

BEFORE THIS INTERESTING NATIVE RACE—THE

The following texts were collected in the summers of 1890

few individuals survived who remembered the languages of

tion. His mother's mother was a Katlamat (Cathlamet) and his

11. JARGON WORDS THAT COME FROM PURE CHINOOK

O N T H E VERY FIRST PAGE OF BOAS'S Chinook

12. N A T I V E CONTRIBUTIONS TO T H E JARGON

FOUR FAMILIES OF TRIBES ACCOUNT FOR MOST

Klickitats. These tribes contributed the largest number of words to

I N COMPILING THIS DICTIONARY T H E AUTHOR

The different ways in which some words are spelled is a

cullacullah; kullakullie; kullukulli; kulakulla, etc. An exami-

There are three reasons for this difference in spelling—which

for instance, whether the first syllable of kalakala should be

As will be seen, the orthography of the Jargon is unsettled

formity. ... Some writers, however, retain in the Jargon the

Eells respected the work done by Hale on the Chinook Jargon

' F r o m History of Oregon Literature (Metropolitan Press 1935) by Alfred Powers. V a r i a -

substantive duty; or some strange monster, evidently nurtured with-

his deepest feelings. Though the vocabulary was derived from

About a fourth of the sermon, consisting of the first four para-

Moxt Sunday ahnkuttie nika memook kumtux mesika kopa okoke

Two Sundays ago I spoke to you concerning that picture. There

O Saghalie Tyee, nesilca Papa, nesika